Kelsi Worrell Wins First World Cup Gold

Kelsi Worrell won her first ever gold medal in a World Cup event, when she took the crown in the 100m butterfly in Tokyo.

Worrell (Voorhees, NJ), trailed four-time Olympian Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark at the turn, but was able to turn on the jets on the home stretch, securing her gold. Worrell also finished just outside the medals in the 50m fly, finishing fourth.

The strong field also included Japanese record holder Rikako Ikee and three-time Olympic gold medalist Katinka Hosszu. The medal was Worrell’s second in only four days, after she took home a silver in her first ever World Cup event in Singapore, in the 50m fly.

She was also part of a mixed medley relay team that included gold medalist Anthony Ervin, and touted swimming phenom Michael Andrew, however, the team was disqualified.

Worrell won the 100m fly, her signature event, at the U.S. Olympic Trials. However, she wasn’t able to qualify for the finals in the indivdual event. She won her first Olympic gold medal later on in the 200m medley relay as part of the qualifying team, as the butterfly leg.

She has two other international golds to her name, one at the 100m fly at the Pan-Am games in 2015, and the other at the same games in the medley relay. Worrell is also the American record holder in her signature event.

The U.S. took home three total medals in the event, as Worrell was joined on the podium by Josh Prenot, who won bronze in the 200m individual medley, and Brooke Forde, who won bronze in the 400m indivual medley.

While the overall haul may look unimpressive, many of the world’s top swimmers aren’t active immediately after the Olympics, while many others have already began their college seasons, leaving a lot of top American talent home.

With the World Cup events all wrapped up for the season, Worrell will start to look forward to the short course indoor championships, which are in December in Canada. The former Louisville Cardinal swimmer will also likely take part in the USA Arena Pro Swim Series, which kicks off in January.