Kate Douglass Breaks Records at Pan Pacific Championships

American swimmer Kate Douglass set a new world record in the 50m freestyle during the preliminary heats at the Pan Pacific Championships. She reclaimed the record from her training partner, Gretchen Walsh. Douglass then surpassed her own record again in the evening final on the same day.

The Olympic 200m breaststroke gold medalist achieved a time of 23.49 seconds in the preliminaries in Irvine, California. This broke Walsh’s record of 23.55 seconds, set on June 28. Later, in the final, Douglass improved her time to 23.19 seconds, bettering 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,” Douglass said.

Prior to this, Douglass had held the world record with a time of 23.59 seconds on June 19, maintaining it for nine days before Walsh claimed it.

On Saturday night, Douglass won two gold medals and a silver, achieving a notable three-medal haul in a single session at a major international meet. The timeline of her achievements during the night was as follows:

• 7:42 PM local time: Won the 50m freestyle in a world-record 23.19 seconds.
• 8:08 PM local time: Secured second place in the 200m breaststroke, the event where she won Olympic gold in 2024.
• 9:25 PM local time: Anchored the U.S. women’s 4x100m medley relay team to victory.

Douglass expressed her initial doubts about her ability to win three medals in one night.

“I was doubting myself, questioning my ability to do a triple tonight, but honestly, my coaches and my teammates had a lot of faith in me. They really gave me a lot of energy to finish that relay,” she mentioned in an NBC Sports broadcast.

She added, “It’s probably one of the busiest nights of swimming I’ve had. I don’t think I want to do it again.”

Previously, on Friday night, Douglass recorded the second-fastest 100m freestyle in history with a time of 51.69 seconds, just 0.01 seconds shy of Marrit Steenbergen’s world record, as she led off the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay at the Pan Pacific Championships.

Douglass is regarded as one of the world’s most versatile swimmers. She ranks as the second-fastest performer in the 200m breaststroke.

Highlights from the Pan Pacific Championships are scheduled to air on NBC on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports’ Ardynne Fleitz provided additional reporting from Irvine.