FLASH! Regan Smith Sets 100 Back S/C World Record At World Cup
Regan Smith nailed the 100m backstroke world record with a time of 54.41 at the World Cup in Incheon, South Korea.
The US swimmer took 0.15 from Kaylee McKeown’s short-lived standard of 54.56 set at the Australian Championships in September.
Smith now holds both the short and long-course world records, with a time of 57.13 in the latter at the US Olympic trials.
It was the second WR for an American swimmer in as many days following Kate Douglass‘ 2:14.16 in the 200m breaststroke on Thursday and the third overall following Noè Ponti’s 21.67 in the 50 fly at last week’s World Cup opener in Shanghai.
Splits: 12.96/26.67 (13.71)/40.50 (13.83)/54.41 (13.91)
Ingrid Wilm of Canada was second in 56.14 with Beata Nelson making it two Americans on the podium in 56.41.
McKeown withdrew from the World Cup tour last week to focus on her mental health with Smith telling World Aquatics on poolside: “She is incredible and so consistent, so great at executing and I wish she could be here because I just think we push each other so much.
“I am super-psyched with that, that’s awesome and a great way to bounce back from last night’s 200 fly (finished second) so super-pleased with it.”
Of whether being in sight of the WR can heap on the pressure, she added: “I think sometimes it does. I think an environment like this, a World cup, it’s so much fun, there’s no pressure. I know that there’s nothing on the line, so I am able to swim really freely so this was all about enjoying myself and enjoying the process tonight.”
Smith clocked a World Cup record of 54.89 last week in Shanghai; in Incheon she went out 0.08 slower before a considerably faster second 50.
She said: “I kind of died coming home last week so I wanted to clean that up tonight and it didn’t hurt as bad as it did last week so thank goodness.”
