Kate Douglass breaks 50-meter freestyle world record

Kate Douglass broke the women’s 50-meter freestyle world record Saturday morning, turning a preliminary heat at the Pan Pacific Championships into one of the fastest swims in history and setting up a final against the teammate whose mark she erased.

Douglass, 24, touched the wall in 23.49 seconds at the outdoor pool in Irvine, California. The time lowered the previous record of 23.55 set by fellow American Gretchen Walsh on June 28 at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” Douglass told Swimming World magazine. “I still think there are things I could clean up.”

It was the second time this summer Douglass, from Pelham, New York, had set the world mark in the event. She first broke it on June 19 at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis, where she swam 23.59. Nine days later, Walsh took the record in Rome. On Saturday, Douglass took it back.

Walsh swam in the heat after Douglass and finished in 23.78, making the Americans the top two qualifiers for the evening final on the final day of the meet. Australian Meg Harris, who overtook Walsh to win the 100-meter freestyle on Thursday, qualified third in 24.22.

Saturday’s record was the first individual world record set at the Pan Pacific Championships, a meet that includes swimmers from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, China and other nations. The Guardian described the event as a four-day meeting for top swimmers from non-European nations.

Douglass’ sprint record came a little more than 12 hours after another near-record performance. Swimming the leadoff leg for the United States in its victorious 4×100-meter freestyle relay, she clocked 51.69 seconds, the second-fastest 100-meter freestyle time in history and one one-hundredth of a second off the world record set by Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands in June.

“I think barely missing a world record last night kind of fueled me a little bit, and I know I wanted to go in and break the world record today – and I did it this morning,” Douglass said. “I am more rested than when I broke the world record the first time, and I have been amped up.”

Douglass is a five-time Olympic medalist. She won silver in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 World Championships but did not compete in the event at the 2024 Paris Games.

She is also scheduled for another individual race on the final night in Irvine. Douglass, the second-fastest performer in history in the 200-meter breaststroke, qualified second for that final behind Japan’s Kotomi Kato.