Kate Douglass wins world swimming champs showdown with world document holder

Last summer season, Kate Douglass received the Olympic 200m breaststroke title within the absence of world document holder Evgeniia Chikunova.

On Friday, she crushed Chikunova (who was recovering from sickness) for the world title within the 200m breast, consolidating her dominance within the occasion and her standing among the many world’s most versatile swimmers.

Douglass prevailed in 2 minutes, 18.50 seconds in Singapore, beating Chikunova by 1.46 seconds.

It’s the second-fastest time in historical past behind Chikunova’s world document of two:17.55 from 2023, breaking Douglass’ personal American document.

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“I gave it my all in that race,” Douglass, who about quarter-hour later was seventh in a 50m butterfly semifinal, stated on Peacock. “I felt like I was going to throw up walking out to the 50m fly.”

The 200m breast last was the primary first head-to-head between Douglass and Chikunova within the occasion on this degree. Chikunova, a impartial athlete from Russia, was absent in previous years resulting from restrictions on Russian athletes because the invasion of Ukraine.

Chikunova stated she turned in poor health with a virus earlier within the week, in line with Russian media.

“We tried to recover on a short deadline,” she stated, in line with World Aquatics. “Some of the things we tried worked, some things didn’t. The result you see today is what we have as the outcome.

“The worst things you can imagine about it, it all happened to me. The doctor was trying to calm me down yesterday before the preliminaries because I didn’t know what to do.”

At earlier worlds within the 200m breast, Douglass earned bronze (2022) and silver (2023, 2024). She’s additionally a two-time world champion within the 200m particular person medley and a world silver medalist within the 50m free and 100m breast.

Kate Douglass, a Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, is now the world’s most versatile swimmer.

Including relays, Douglass has 17 long-course world championships medals — all since 2022 — breaking her tie with Missy Franklin for fourth in U.S. ladies’s historical past behind Katie Ledecky (29), Natalie Coughlin (20) and Simone Manuel (18).

“Being a professional swimmer was never something I thought would be my career, especially going into college,” Douglass, a 15-time NCAA champion at Virginia from 2020-23, stated in early spring. “I kind of thought it would be four years of college swimming, and I would retire just like a normal college athlete.”

Also Friday, Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen repeated as world champion within the 100m free in 52.55, beating Australian Mollie O’Callaghan by 12 hundredths.

Torri Huske, among the many U.S. swimmers affected to various levels by acute gastroenteritis over the past week, earned bronze.

Worlds proceed by means of Sunday with preliminary heats at 10 p.m. ET and finals at 7 a.m., dwell on Peacock.

Saturday’s finals characteristic essentially the most anticipated race of the meet — the ladies’s 800m free with Katie Ledecky eyeing a record-breaking seventh world title in a single occasion. She’ll face Summer McIntosh, who is 2 golds away from changing into the second swimmer to win 5 particular person occasions at one worlds after Michael Phelps.

Katie Ledecky eyes the longest reign in World Championships historical past. Summer McIntosh needs to finish it.