Budapest 2024: In Medley Victory, Kate Douglass Broke Last of Katinka Hosszu’s Five SCM World Records
During a stretch when Katinka Hosszu was clearly established as the world’s most versatile swimmer and dominant medley swimmer that the Hungarian held seven different world records. The stretch began August 6, 2016, when she won her first Olympic gold medal, beating the existing mark in the long course 400 IM by more than two seconds as she defeated a field led by American silver medalist Maya DiRado by more than five seconds. It would last for just over a year, until a World Cup meet on August 12, 2017, when Spain’s Mireia Belmonte broke Hosszu’s 400 IM mark in short course.
Now, only one of those records remain, the long course 200 IM, with Summer McIntosh establishing dominion over the long course 400 IM over the past two years while various swimmers have combined to break five short course marks. Belmonte was first in the 400 IM followed by a pair of Australians in the 100 and 200 back in 2019 and 2020, respectively (although Regan Smith now owns both of those standards).
Katinka Hosszu — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Two months ago, Gretchen Walsh broke Hosszu’s 100 IM record that lasted for seven years as she clocked 55.98 in a college dual meet shifted from yards to short course meters for the pursuit of World Championships qualification times. And on day one of this year’s Short Course World Championship, Kate Douglass knocked off the final one. Douglass had just missed Hosszu’s record in the 200 IM at the 2022 edition of the meet, but this time, she finished in 2:01.63 to lower a record that lasted for 10 years plus four days.
Douglass has followed in Hosszu’s footsteps in excelling across a wide stretch of events in which there is little crossover. Before Douglass became the first swimmer to ever attempt both the 100 freestyle-200 breaststroke double at a World Championships, Hosszu followed up her 400 IM Olympic gold with a surprise win in the 100 backstroke two days later, beating out a lineup of swimmers in their signature event. In the current era of specialization, swimmers racing such varied events are the exception: Douglass is one of few elite competitors today to range from 50 through 200 meters, just as few in Hosszu’s peak went from 100 to 400.
Perhaps appropriately, the last of Hosszu’s short course records went down inside Duna Arena, the Budapest venue she helped christen in 2017 when she joined Sarah Sjostrom and Katie Ledecky as the stars of the first global meet held there. Hosszu won gold in both medley races at that meet, and her 400 IM win made her one of two female swimmers at the time (along with Sjostrom) to have captured four career world titles in one event.
It’s unlikely we will ever again see one swimmer hold five world records in one course. Currently, there are only a pair swimmers with three records in one course: Sjostrom owns the marks in the 50 and 100 free plus the 50 butterfly, having lost her 100 fly mark to Walsh this summer, while Caeleb Dressel has the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 IM in short course. For all the marks Dressel broke at his peak, he never could get the 100 free short course mark, which belonged to France’s Amaury Leveaux for 13 years, or either sprint freestyle time in long course.
World records are special markers, and some great ones transcend generations, particularly in short course when elite swimmers occasionally go long stretches without a major-meet appearance in the format. Thus, the breaking of Hosszu’s last short course world record ends an era.
