U.S. Open, Day Four Finals (Women’s): Summer McIntosh Blasts U.S. Open Record in 200 Fly; Kate Douglass Secures Meet Record
On the final night of the U.S. Open, the last major long course competition of 2025, three women competed in and dominated events in which they previously won world titles in 2025. Gretchen Walsh came through in the 50 butterfly, an event in which she became the second-fastest swimmer in history earlier this year, while Virginia training partner Kate Douglass impressed in the 200 breaststroke after previously capturing wins in the 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 100 breast in Austin.
But the story of the night was Summer McIntosh, who swam the fourth-fastest performance ever in the 200 fly, continuing her assault on the oldest world record in women’s swimming. Additionally, Regan Smith won the 200 backstroke and finished second in the 200 fly, a pair of events in which she was Worlds runnerup this year, while Simone Manuel had an impressive win in the 100 free.
- Results
- Day One Recap
- Day Two Women’s Recap
- Day Two Men’s Recap
- Day Three Women’s Recap
- Day Three Men’s Recap
Women’s 800 Freestyle
Ohio State’s Mila Nikanarov completed the distance double with a dominant effort in the women’s 800 free. Three days after her 1500-meter victory, Nikanarov never trailed in the 16-lap race on the way to a final time of 8:34.38. She was within seven seconds of the time she swam on the way to gold in the event at the World University Games this summer (8:27.61). Rounding out the top three behind Nikanarov were Louisville’s Leticia Fassina Romao (8:41.05) and Long Island’s Alex Siegel (8:41.77).
Women’s 50 Butterfly
As usual, no one was stopping Gretchen Walsh in the 50 butterfly. After a year in which she became world champion and second-fastest swimmer ever in the one-lap race, Walsh dominated the field at the U.S. Open by more than a second. She touched in 25.18, a half-second behind her American record of 24.66 but ahead of the silver-medal-winning time from the World Championships (Australia’s Alex Perkins, 25.31).
Versatile Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey continued her run of top-three finishes with a time of 26.43 while Alabama’s Emily Jones claimed third (26.51).
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Regan Smith would not be stopped in the 200 back final. She pulled away from World University Games winner Phoebe Bacon, a two-time Olympic finalist in the event, and held strong on the final length as World University Games winner Leah Shackley moved into second place. Smith touched in 2:05.52, which was just over a second behind the 2:04.29 she swam to win silver at this summer’s World Championships but still quicker than the bronze-medal-winning time.
The top-three finishers came out well ahead of the field, with Shackley touching second in 2:07.21 and Bacon claiming third in 2:07.77. Shackley got under 2:07 and 2:06 for the first time this year, topping out at 2:05.99 at WUGs in July. No other swimmer went under 2:10.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
The world’s dominant 200 breaststroker had no peer in Austin as Kate Douglass pulled away for a four-second win. Douglass was the Olympic gold medalist in the event last year and world champion this year, her Singapore time of 2:18.50 making her the No. 2 performer in history. At the U.S. Open, Ireland’s Mona McSharry stayed close in their early going, the Irish Olympic medalist in the 100-meter event showing off her speed, but Douglass asserted herself down the stretch.
Douglass swam a time of 2:20.86, lowering the meet record of 2:21.87 she set back in 2023. The runnerup spot here went to Alex Walsh, a longtime teammate of Douglass at UVA. Walsh finished in 37.76 to surpass a fading McSharry at the finish by three hundredths, 2:24.88 to 2:24.91, with Tara Kinder (2:25.09) and Alexanne LePage (2:25.10) just outside the mix.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Simone Manuel has posted a resurgent weekend of performances at the U.S. Open. She recorded the second-quickest time of her career in the 200 free Friday, and here she got the better of fellow star sprinters Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass in the 100 free. The two Virginia-trained swimmers have more recent accolades in the event, with Walsh claiming the short course world title last year while Douglass broke the short course world record this fall, but Manuel had the better finishing speed here.
Manuel scored the win in 53.33, one-third of a second ahead of Walsh’s 53.76. Douglass placed third in 53.82. Both Walsh and Douglass had already picked up victories earlier in the session. In fourth was Indiana’s Liberty Clark, her time of 54.03 a best time by almost four tenths.
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Yet again, Summer McIntosh made a run toward historic territory in the women’s 200 fly. The world record in the event stands at 2:01.81, held by China’s Liu Zige since 2009. Other than that lone stunning effort during the supersuit era, no had ever recorded a time under 2:03 until 2025, and now McIntosh has done it three times. She came close to the world record at this summer’s World Championships, clocking 2:01.99 in a near-miss, and here she blasted a time of 2:02.62 in a wire-to-wire win.
McIntosh broke the U.S. Open record of 2:03.87 set by Regan Smith in 2023 while demolishing Smith’s previous meet record of 2:06.72 from the same year. Smith was in this race as well, pulling a double after winning the 200 back earlier in the session, and she came in second at 2:06.89. Alex Shackell, who swam in second place for most of the race before fading down the stretch, came in third at 2:09.30, narrowly holding off Lindsay Looney (2:09.41).
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