Kate Douglass Shatters World Record at Pan Pacific Championships

American swimmer Kate Douglass made a stunning comeback at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California on Saturday. She reclaimed the world record in the 50m freestyle from Gretchen Walsh during preliminary heats, only to smash it again in the evening final.

Douglass, who is an Olympic gold medalist in the 200m breaststroke, clocked a remarkable 23.49 seconds during the prelims. This broke the previous record of 23.55 seconds set by Walsh on June 28. In the final, Douglass further improved her record to 23.19 seconds, a significant reduction of three tenths of a second.

Expressing her disbelief, Douglass stated, “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.”

Douglass’ achievements didn’t stop there; she secured two gold medals and one silver in a single session, a rare accomplishment at major international meets. Here’s the timeline of her triumphs:

• 7:42 PM: Wins 50m free in world record time of 23.19 seconds.
• 8:08 PM: Finishes second in the 200m breaststroke, an event where she won Olympic gold in 2024.
• 9:25 PM: Anchors the U.S. women’s 4x100m medley relay to victory.

Despite her doubts, Douglass credited her success to the encouragement of her coaches and teammates. “They really gave me a lot of energy to finish that relay,” she revealed in a broadcast for NBC Sports. Later, she remarked, “It’s probably one of the busiest nights of swimming I’ve had. I don’t think I want to do it again.”

On the previous night, Douglass nearly etched her name in history again, swimming the second-fastest 100m free ever at 51.69 seconds, just .01 seconds shy of Marrit Steenbergen’s world record. She achieved this while leading off for the U.S. 4x100m free relay.

Douglass is regarded as one of the most versatile swimmers globally, having recorded the second-fastest performance in the 200m breast as well.

The Pan Pacific Championships highlights are scheduled to air Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Ardynne Fleitz from NBC Sports contributed to the report from Irvine.