Gretchen Walsh clocked a stunning 54.76sec to win the 100m butterfly at the US Swimming Championships on Thursday, coming up just shy of her own world record in a comfortable victory over Olympic champion Torri Huske.

Walsh, who settled for silver behind Huske at the Paris Games last year, had lowered her own world record twice at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim last month, becoming the first woman to dip below 55 seconds with a world mark of 54.60sec in the finals there.

She was well under world-record pace when she turned in 25.19sec, and even though she couldn't lower the mark, she posted the second-fastest time in history and had plenty to hold off Huske, who finished 1.8sec back in 56.61sec.

"I just like pushing myself past boundaries that I never thought possible," Walsh, who now own

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