Alex Walsh capped off 2024 with six medals to add to her growing collection of silverware at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest.
Alex led off the USA women’s 4x200m freestyle relay as they won gold in a world record time of 7:30.13 and swam the prelims of the 4x100m medley relay before the American quartet set another global standard en-route to the title. She won silver and bronze in the 200m individual medley and 200m breaststroke respectively as well as two further relay medals.
“Doing short-course meters is always tricky, because we don’t do it too often in the States,” she said. “I am happy learning while racing and also getting a chance to race. It’s very good racing to practice for future World Championships and Olympics.”
In March 2025, Alex represented the University of Virginia at the NCAA Women’s Championship for the fifth time. By winning the 100m breaststroke, Alex became the first swimmer to capture titles in five different individual events during her career since Tracy Caulkins won six different races during her time at the University of Florida in the 1980s.
Alex concluded her collegiate career with 23 titles as UVA claimed their fifth straight title and she is the first and only female swimmer to win events across five NCAA meets.
She has bought a house with sister Gretchen in Charlotteville with the pair training alongside the UVA women’s team as professionals.
“The fact that we kind of solidified ourselves as history makers. We know for a fact that we’ve already left our legacy and I feel very honoured to be a part of it,” Alex told 29news.com. “Also to know that I’ve become the athlete I dreamed of being when I was little. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
