Victoria Huske ( ; Chinese given name: 簡愛, , born December 7, 2002) is an American competitive swimmer and the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter butterfly. She holds world records in two relays: the 4x100-meter medley and 4x100-meter mixed medley. She is the former American record holder in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly.
At 18, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the final. At the 2022 Fina World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Huske won three gold and three bronze medals, joining just three other American women in winning six medals at a World Championships. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Huske won three gold and two silver medals.
Early life and education Huske is from Arlington, Virginia. Her mother, Ying, is an IT professional who was an architect in Guangzhou, China, before immigrating to the United States in 1991. Her father, Jim Huske, works as an executive coach and organizational consultant. Torri is an only child. At age six, she began swimming with the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC).
Career High school (2017–2021) Torri attended Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, from 2017 to 2021. While at high school, she was coached by Torey Ortmayer Her team finished first once (2021), second twice (2018–2020) and third in the Virginia State High School League (VHSL) Class 6 High School Swimming and Diving Championships.
At the VHSL State Championship Meet during her senior year Huske set the national high school record in the 200 Short Course Yards (SCY) Individual Medley (IM) with a time of 1:53.73, shaving a tenth of a second from the record held by Dagney Knutson since 2009. A half-hour later, Huske reclaimed the national high school record in the 100 (SCY) butterfly with a time of 49.95, taking down Claire Curzan's mark of 50.35 from 2020 and becoming the first woman to go under 50 seconds in a high school competition. She also set the 17–18 National Age Group record, breaking the 50.19 mark set by Olivia Bray in 2019.
Ultimately, she set six Virginia State (SCY) records: 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and the 4x50 medley relay. She won 15 VHSL Class 6 High School State Championships (eight individual and seven relay).
Huske was named a 2020–2021 high school All-American swimmer by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) in July 2021.Sutherland, James (August 5, 2021). "NISCA Announces 2020–21 High School Swimming All-Americans" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 20, 2021. By the end of her high school career, she had been named a 29-time NISCA All-American. In September 2021, USA Swimming named Huske as one of the recipients of Scholastic All-American honors for the 2020–2021 high school season. It was her fourth year receiving the honor.D'Addona, Dan (September 22, 2021). "USA Swimming Announces 2020–21 Scholastic All-America Recipients, led by Torri Huske". Swimming World. Retrieved November 20, 2021.Lepesant, Anne (September 22, 2021). "1,239 Swimmers Named To USA Swimming 2021 Scholastic All-American Team" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
In 2022, Torri became the youngest member ever inducted into the Yorktown High School Hall of Fame.
2019 At the 2019 US National Championships in Stanford, California, Huske broke the 38-year-old National Age Group record in the 100m butterfly for the girls 15–16 age group with a time of 57.80, 0.13 seconds faster than the previous record set by Mary Meagher in 1981.Hart, Torrey (August 2, 2019). "Torri Huske Breaks Mary Meagher's 38-Year-Old 100 Fly NAG Record" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
2019 World Junior Championships
In August 2019, Huske won six medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, five of which were gold medals and one of which was a silver medal. On August 21, Huske won a gold medal in the mixed medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in 58.04 seconds and helping the relay finish in a new world junior record and Championships record time of 3:44.84.FINA (August 21, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021. The next day, Huske won a silver medal in the 100m freestyle with a time of 54.54 seconds in the final that was 8-tenths of a second behind gold medalist and fellow American Gretchen Walsh.FINA (August 22, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021. In the final of the 50-meter butterfly on August 23, Huske finished ahead of American teammate Claire Curzan, who won the bronze medal, to win the gold medal with a time of 25.70 seconds.FINA (August 23, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 50m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021. Huske won her fourth medal of the Championships on August 24 in the 4×100m freestyle relay, splitting a 54.50 for the second leg to help the relay win the gold medal in a time of 3:37.61.FINA (August 24, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021. On August 25, the final day of the Championships, Huske won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly with a time of 57.71 seconds, breaking her own National Age Group record in the event.FINA (August 25, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 100m Butterfly Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.Ortegon, Karl (August 25, 2019). "Torri Huske Clips Own 15–16 NAG Record In World Juniors 100 Fly Gold" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 21, 2021. For her sixth medal, Huske won a gold medal in the 4×100m medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in 57.86 seconds and contributing to the total time of 3:59.13.FINA (August 25, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019: Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
The day before she turned sixteen, Huske won LC 100M Butterfly at the Toyota U.S. Open Winter National Championships in Atlanta, GA with a LCM time of 57.48.
Huske's swims throughout the 2019 year earned her the Swammy Award from SwimSwam for "Age Group Swimmer of the Year" for the girls 15–16 age group.Lepesant, Anne (December 30, 2019). "2019 Swammy Awards: Age Group Swimmer of the Year – 15–16" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
2020 In November 2020, the Toyota US Open National Championships meet took place in nine locations due to COVID-19 and all races were timed finals (no prelims or semi-finals). Finishing times were compiled across all the locations and places were awarded. Huske swam at the Richmond, VA location and across all locations finished 1st in the 100m freestyle with a time of 54.04. In addition, Huske also finished 2nd in the 100m butterfly (57.36), 2nd in the 200m individual medley (2:11.18), 7th in the 200m butterfly (2:14.03), 9th in the 50m free (25.34), and 28th in the 100m backstroke (1:03.25).
Huske committed to swim for Stanford University in June 2020 and started attending in autumn 2021, competing collegiately as part of the Stanford Cardinal.
2020 US Olympic Trials At the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Huske swam a new Americas record, American record, US Open record, and Championships record time of 55.78 seconds in the 100m butterfly semifinals.USA Swimming (June 13, 2021). "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wave II: Women's 100m Butterfly Semifinals Results Summary" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 20, 2021. Her new American record broke the record of 55.98 seconds set at the 2012 Summer Olympics by Dana Vollmer.Long, Julius (June 13, 2021). "Arlington swimmer sets American record in the 100m butterfly" . NBC Sports Washington. Retrieved November 20, 2021. The next day, June 14, Huske broke her own Americas, American, US Open, and Championships records from the day before, setting the new records in the final of the 100m butterfly at 55.66 seconds and swimming the third fastest performance in the event to date.Brennan, Christine (June 14, 2021). "Torri Huske breaks her American record in butterfly to qualify for Tokyo Olympics" . USA Today. Retrieved November 20, 2021.USA Swimming (June 14, 2021). "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wave II: Women's 100m Butterfly Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved November 20, 2021. Huske qualified for a spot on the 2020 USA Olympic Team, a noted accomplishment considering she was only able to train in a long course meters swimming pool once a week leading up to the Olympic Trials.Hodges, Coleman (September 5, 2021). "Evan Stiles On How Torri Huske Prepped For Trials With 1 LCM Practice Per Week" . SwimSwam. Retrieved November 20, 2021. During the meet Huske swam more races than any other women. In addition to the 100m butterfly, she also placed third in the 50m freestyle with a time of 24.46 and fourth in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:10.38. Huske also qualified for Semi-Finals in the 100m freestyle (placing 10 overall) and the 200m freestyle (placing 11th overall).
Following her performances at the US Olympic Trials, national newspaper USA Today highlighted Huske as one of their "10 to watch", that is one of ten Olympians, selected from all sports, to keep an eye on during the 2020 Olympic Games.Brennan, Christine (July 12, 2021). "10 to watch: At 18, Torri Huske already holds American record in 100 fly and she's just getting started". USA Today. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
2020 Summer Olympics
On day three of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Huske competed in the 100m butterfly final. The race would end up being the fastest 100m butterfly heat in history. Four of the eight finalists swam times which were ranked in the top ten for a female in the All-time history of the event. Huske finished that 100m butterfly heat in fourth, 1/100 of a second behind bronze medalist Emma McKeon of Australia., and just 14/100ths of a second behind Maggie Macneil who won the gold medal in 55.59.
In the final of the mixed medley relay on day eight, Huske and her finals relay teammates of Ryan Murphy, Lydia Jacoby, and Caeleb Dressel placed fifth.Forde, Pat (July 31, 2021). "Team USA Plagued by Trust Issues in Swimming Relays" . Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2021. On the ninth and final day of competitive swimming at the Olympic Games, Huske competed in the 4×100m medley relay final for Team USA with teammates Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, and Abbey Weitzeil. Team USA finished second with a time of 3:51.73, just 0.13 seconds behind Australia's Olympic-record time of 3:51.60, earning Huske a silver medal.
2021
2021–2022 fall collegiate season