Kate Douglass breaks world report in 50m freestyle

Kate Douglass broke the world report within the 50m freestyle at a Tyr Pro Series meet in Indianapolis, changing into the primary American lady to carry the report within the quickest occasion in swimming in 40 years.

Douglass, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist within the 200m breaststroke, clocked 23.59 seconds.

She broke the report of 23.61 set by Swede Sarah Sjöström on the 2023 World Championships.

“I was really just hoping to go a best time, break the American record,” Douglass mentioned on Peacock. “That’s a lot faster than I ever thought I would go tonight, or ever.”

Douglass’ earlier private finest was 23.91, which gave her a share of the American report with coaching companion Gretchen Walsh.

Walsh was second in Friday’s race in 23.78, additionally going underneath the earlier American report to turn into the joint-fifth-fastest lady in historical past globally.

The final American lady to carry the world report within the “splash-and-dash” 50m free was Dara Torres, who held it from 1983-86.

Douglass is the primary American lady to win an Olympic gold medal in a single stroke and maintain a long-course world report in a distinct stroke since Tracy Caulkins did so within the particular person medleys and the 100m butterfly (shared the world report) greater than 40 years in the past.

Sjöström, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist within the 50m free, first set the world report in 2017 and held it for practically 9 years.

Douglass can also be the second-fastest swimmer in historical past within the 200m breast with a finest time of two:18.50, trailing solely Yevgeniya Chikunova of Russia’s world report of two:17.55.

Douglass can also be the American report holder within the 100m free, 200m breast and 200m particular person medley in short-course swimming (25-meter swimming pools), a testomony to her distinctive versatility.