American Kate Douglass took back the world record in the 50m freestyle from training partner Gretchen Walsh in the preliminary heats, then broke it again — crushed it — in the evening final at the Pan Pacific Championships on Saturday.
Douglass, the Olympic 200m breaststroke gold medalist, clocked 23.49 seconds in the prelims Irvine, California, breaking the record of 23.55 set by Walsh on June 28.
Then in the final, she went 23.19 — breaking her hours-old record by three tenths of a second.
“I had to do a few double takes, not really sure I was seeing that right because that time just seems like crazy fast to me,” she said.
PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Results
Douglass previously held the world record of 23.59 set June 19, holding it for nine days before Walsh took it.
Douglass won two gold medals and one silver in total on Saturday night, a rare three-medal-feat in one session at a major international meet. The timeline:
- 7:42 local time: wins 50m free in world record 23.19.
- 8:08 local time: runner-up in 200m breaststroke (her 2024 Olympic gold medal event).
- 9:25 local time: anchors U.S. women’s 4x100m medley relay to victory.
“I was doubting myself, questioning my ability to do a triple tonight, but honestly, my coaches and my teammates had a lot faith in me,” she said on the NBC Sports broadcast. “They really gave me a lot of energy to finish that relay.”
Douglass added later, “It’s actually probably one of the busiest nights of swimming I’ve had. I don’t think I want to do it again.”
On Friday night, Douglass swam the second-fastest 100m free in history — 51.69, .01 off Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen’s world record — leading off the U.S. 4x100m free relay at Pan Pacs.
Douglass, arguably the world’s most versatile swimmer, is also the second-fastest performer in history in the 200m breast.
Pan Pacs highlights air Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
NBC Sports’ Ardynne Fleitz contributed to this report from Irvine.
