U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 8 Finals: Kate Douglass Sets U.S. Open Record in 200 IM, Moves to Fourth All-Time; Alex Walsh Makes Team

Kate Douglass -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 8 Finals: Kate Douglass Sets U.S. Open Record in 200 IM, Moves to Fourth All-Time; Alex Walsh Makes Team

University of Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo typically defers to his swimmers when considering their event lineups. Prefer not to race a particular event? DeSorbo will respect an athlete’s choice and not push the issue.

DeSorbo took that approach while guiding Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, two of the country’s most versatile swimmers, onto two Olympic teams, and after both swimmers reached the Olympic podium in the 200 individual medley in 2021, both are going back to the Olympics in the event in 2024, both established as medal favorites and strong contenders to win gold, which each has done at at least one World Championships in recent years.

Douglass and Walsh were the heavy favorites to finish 1-2 in some order in the medley final because their presence convinced the only swimmer capable of challenging them, Torri Huske, to scratch the 200 IM final and turn her attention to the 50 freestyle, assuming correctly that Douglass would skip the 50 freestyle because of a schedule conflict and provide Huske with an opening.

Indeed, this final was all about the two favorites, with no swimmers coming within two seconds of the Cavalier duo by the finish, but this race was all about Douglass, who pulled away from Walsh on the freestyle leg to become the fourth-fastest performer in history.

Douglass finished in 2:06.79, breaking the U.S. Open record of 2:07.09 she set at last year’s U.S. Nationals. Walsh came in second at 2:07.86, about eight tenths behind her best time but sufficient to reach Paris.

With the performance, Douglass became the fourth-fastest performer in history, trailing only Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, the United States’ Ariana Kukors and Australia’s Kaylee McKeown (2:06.63). Douglass’ time was just behind McKeown (2:06.63) in the world rankings while Walsh was just off her season-best mark of 2:07.63 which ranks fourth globally.

The win was Douglass’ third of the Trials after her previous top finishes in the 100 free and 200 breast. Douglass admitted that she felt significant pressure to perform at these Trials after her emergence as a multi-event star over the previous two years — not to mention the placement of her photograph on the north window of Lucas Oil Stadium — but she handled all of that with poise as she qualified for all three of her main events.

“There was a lot of pressure this whole year and specifically leading into this meet,” Douglass said. “. Obviously, my face on the stadium. When I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh wow, I really need to make this team. I obviously had confidence in myself, but it was definitely scary because I knew a lot of people had expectations for me. A lot of people had planned trips to Paris, and I was like, ‘I haven’t made it yet, but hopefully that will be fun.’

“I feel like I did a really good job of trusting the process, trusting Todd and just being confident in my ability. I knew if I swam close to my best times and just executed the race how I’ve always done in all three of the races I swam that I was going to make the team. I think I did a good job of being relaxed and just focusing on my race plan and executing that.”

Douglass, McKeown and Walsh are three of the four primary candidates for Olympic medals in the event while Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh will race the 200 IM at a major international competition for the first time after setting a national record of 2:06.89 last year. Canada’s Sydney Pickrem and China’s Yu Yiting also figure to be in the mix. Douglass and Walsh went 1-2 in the event at last year’s Worlds, but it’s notable that neither McKeown or McIntosh were in that race.

For Walsh, the result provides a satisfying, relieving conclusion to a week defined by some high-risk calculus: Walsh raced the 400 IM at last year’s World Championships, and she has competed in the 800 free relay internationally, but last fall, Walsh told DeSorbo she wanted to move away from the long course version of the 400 IM to maximize her chances of winning Olympic gold in the 200. Instead, she would add the 200 breaststroke to the 200 IM while also using the 100 breast as a warm-up event.

Unfortunately for Walsh, she finished third in the 200 breast, a blistering final length from Lilly King enough to give the veteran breaststroke specialist the edge for second place, and she entered the final two days of the meet having not yet qualified for the Olympic team. But now, with her qualification Saturday evening, Walsh’s event decision and DeSorbo’s trust look smart, even if Walsh admitted the pressure of having not qualified for Paris began to take a toll as the days dragged on.

“Hindsight is always 20/20, and earlier at Trials, there were some points where I regretted not doing the 400 IM because I thought to myself, ‘Man, if I had just trained this all year, maybe I would have made the team.’ Obviously, it’s not the most enjoyable event. I think we all know that. I thought my chances to medal in the 200 IM, the 200 IM has always been my favorite event. It’s always been the event that I have the biggest goals in, so I really wanted to focus on that, and the 400 IM was not something I wanted to focus on. It was as simple as that,” Walsh said.

“After our swims tonight, I feel really good going to Paris just in the 200 IM. I feel I’m going to be able to set myself up to have a good swim. I don’t really like to live in the past. I’m confident with my decision. I’m happy.”

Douglass, meanwhile, achieved her win as a result of another carefully-crafted plan: DeSorbo’s willingness to let Douglass temporarily abandon the 200 IM less than one year after she won Olympic bronze.

At the 2022 International Team Trials, Douglass did not show up for her preliminary heat of the longer medley, choosing to skip it and swim the 50 free instead. Douglass was already on the World Championships team at that point in the 200 breast and 400 free relay, but she was skipping an event in which she almost certainly would have finished top-two and then captured a World Championships.

The explanation was that Douglass did not like racing that event — remember, the one where she had captured her only Olympic medal. Short-sighted and silly? Not so much one year later, when Douglass overtook Walsh to win her first world title in the event. Douglass won again at the World Championships earlier this year in Doha.

Even in 2022, DeSorbo hinted that Douglass would find her way back to medley swimming before long, whenever she was ready. It turns out a spot would open up to swim the race (in short course meters) at the 2022 World Short Championships, and she took advantage by winning gold. Douglass swam the yards version of the event at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 2023. As long course season began, the 200 IM had become part of Douglass’ racing schedule yet again, not out of obligation but of desire.

“I’ve been open about how I’ve just struggled with the 200 IM,” Douglass said. “It’s a really hard event. It’s the hardest event that I swim, and I just get really scared sometimes before swimming it. Before Tokyo, I was in a really bad place with that event, and obviously it still ended up going pretty well for me.

“I feel like taking a year off helped me get away from it. I remember the first time I swam it [after Tokyo] was at Short Course Worlds, and it ended up going pretty well. I was like, ‘You know, I might be able to start training this event again.’ That was what got me excited to swim it again. Just taking time away helped me take a break from all that. Now I feel like I’m in a better place with that event. I still don’t love it, but it’s been going OK.”

Douglass did not lose the 200 IM in any course at any meet since winning bronze in Tokyo, and that streak included numerous comeback wins over Walsh on the freestyle leg. This time, though, Douglass never trailed. The field in Paris will be far tougher than anything she has faced at a World Championships, but Douglass has sent an emphatic statement of her intentions to push for Olympic gold.

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