Kate Douglass Swims Third-Fastest 100 Freestyle SCM in History at Virginia Pro Am; Regan Smith Pulls Off Impressive Double
After posting stunning results in the 50 and 100 freestyle at this summer’s Pan Pacific Championships, Kate Douglass remains on a tear in sprint freestyle races. The uber-versatile 24-year-old has been the world’s top 200 breaststroker for several years, but within the past 12 months, she has broken multiple world records in the long course 50 free and the short course 100 free while coming up just one hundredth short of the long course 100-meter mark.
Douglass kicked off her short course meters competition season Thursday with another big performance in the 100 free, coming from behind to edge out training partner Gretchen Walsh in their home pool at Virginia’s Short Course Meters Pro Am. Douglass recorded a mark of 50.20, the third-quickest time in history behind two of her own swims from last year’s World Cup circuit (49.95 and 50.19).
Walsh ended up second in 50.32, just one hundredth off her best time that ranks her third-quickest in history while veteran Simone Manuel picked up third place in 52.60, just ahead of backstroke standout Katharine Berkoff (52.77). Both Douglass and Walsh will be in pursuit of the world record when they race at the U.S. Short Course World Championships Trials in two weeks in Westmont, Ill., which could set up a showdown with long course world-record holder Marrit Steenbergen in Beijing this December.
Ten other races took place during Thursday’s session, and the only swimmer to win two of those races was Regan Smith, who captured top honors in the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke in quick succession. Smith clocked 2:03.41 in the 200 fly, more than five seconds clear of Emma Weyant (2:08.64). Smith ranks third all-time in the event at 2:00.20, which she swam on last year’s World Cup circuit.
The backstroke race brought a steeper challenge in Isabelle Stadden, who has put together the best year of her career since relocating her training to Charlottesville last year. Smith ended up taking the win in 1:59.71, within two seconds of her best time of 1:57.86 that sits No. 2 on the all-time list, while Stadden clocked 2:00.55 to make her the 13th-quickest performer ever. Phoebe Bacon, a two-time U.S. Olympian in the race, finished third in 2:03.28.
The best men’s race of the evening came in the 100 free as Tokyo Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel faced off against Jordan Crooks, the man who broke his 100-yard freestyle U.S. Open record in 2024. Crooks was returning to competition for the first time in more than 18 months, and he battled back against Dressel’s early lead to take the win, 45.98 to 46.34. Crooks’ Tennessee teammate Lamar Taylor placed third (47.16).
Ahmed Jaouadi swam alone in the men’s 800 free, and he put up a time of 7:33.79. Jaouadi, last year’s long course world champion in the 800 and 1500 free, was within two seconds of the African record of 7:31.93 he swam to win bronze in the event at the 2024 Short Course Worlds. In other freestyle action, Kieran Smith edged out a pair of strong American rivals in the 400 free, going 3:41.10 to defeat training partner Bobby Finke (3:41.52) as well as Luke Hobson (3:41.68).
Alex Walsh put up a time of 1:04.34 to cruise to first in the women’s 100 breaststroke, with fellow Virginia pro and U.S. Olympian Emma Weber (1:05.17) also in the race. Joanna Evans put up a time of 4:08.17 in the women’s 400 free. For the men, Tyler Ray won the 200 fly in 1:50.46, with Mitch Schott not far behind at 1:51.10. Brian Benzing swam a time of 57.51 to top the 100 breast while Pietro Ubertalli led the way in the 200 back (1:53.55).