Regan Smith Again Clips American, World Cup Records in 200 Fly
At the opening World Cup stop, Regan Smith was on the verge of becoming the third swimmer in history to crack 2:00 in the short course meters 200 butterfly, only fall less than three tenths at the finish. This time in Westmont, Ill., Smith had no challengers in the eight-lap event, and she got under her American and World Cup records, but it was not enough to reach exclusive territory.
Smith swam close to the same pace as she did one week earlier in Carmel, Ind., but she could not make up that small margin to the 2:00 barrier. Instead, she clipped her best time by eight hundredth of a second, going 2:00.20 to come even closer to the all-time leaders in this event, Canada’s Summer McIntosh (1:59.32) and Spain’s Mireia Belmonte (1:59.61).
Smith’s win here was her third overall on the World Cup circuit as she also defeated longtime rival Kaylee McKeown in the 100 backstroke last week. Smith is expected to also compete in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke races this weekend.
Second place in the Westmont final went to Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, who came in at 2:04.38, while Australia’s Brittany Castelluzzo placed third in 2:05.43.
