Regan Smith sends a one-word reaction after Kate Douglass' world record at the Incheon Swimming World Cup [Image Source : Getty]

Regan Smith reacts to Kate Douglass's world record at Swimming World Cup

Modified Oct 25, 2024 03:34 GMT

Regan Smith cheered on her teammate and Olympic champion swimmer Kate Douglass, who set a new world record in the 200m breaststroke [short course] at the Swimming World Cup. The 22-year-old swimmer took to Instagram to express her excitement about the news.

Smith shared an Instagram story about the historic achievement made by Douglass on the inaugural day of the Swimming World Cup held in Incheon. The American swimmer wrote,

"[Alr]ight @kaatedouglass!"

Screengrab of Regan Smith's Instagram story [Image Source : Regan Smith's Instagram]

Kate Douglass won the 200m breaststroke event with a record timing of 2:14.16 minutes. This broke the previous world record set by Rebecca Soni in 2009, who had clocked 2:14.57. The American swimmer was in disbelief at the fact that she managed to break the elusive world record.

"I definitely wasn’t expecting that. That was a very old record, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get it,” said the Olympic champion. [via Forbes]

This achievement is even more special since Soni achieved it in the super-suit era. Until 2010, full-body polyurethane suits were the norm in elite swimming events, which aided the buoyancy of the swimmer, irrespective of gender. However, on January 1, 2010, the suits were banned, leading people to wonder if the records achieved through them could be broken again.

Regan Smith on Kate Douglass' achievements at the Swimming World Cup Shanghai

Kate Douglass with her silver medal from women's 200m individual medley event at the Paris Olympics [Image Source : Getty]

Before the Swimming World Cup at Incheon, Regan Smith and Kate Douglass took part in the Swimming World Cup in Shanghai. The two swimmers were in the fray for the top spot at the World Cup, which Douglass won by a margin of 0.1 points. Smith stood second overall with 59 points in total.

The 22-year-old Smith expressed her joy at Douglass's achievements when she dropped an Instagram story on her account with the caption,

"Slay@kaatedouglass"

Douglass had broken multiple records at the Swimming World Cup in Shanghai. She had also broken the world record in the women's 100m individual medley event, clocking 56.99 seconds in the finals. However, she was surpassed by Gretchen Walsh hours later, who clocked 55.98 seconds to win the gold at an NCAA dual meet.

The 22-year-old swimmer also broke the two-year-old American record in the 50m butterfly event. Douglass clocked 24.54 seconds to win the event. She also won gold medals in the 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley events to emerge as the table topper at the Swimming World Cup in Shanghai.

In an interview after her inaugural session at the Swimming World Cup in Incheon, the American swimmer revealed her future plans ahead of the Swimming World Championships, which shall be held in December.

"I am trying to have fun with swimming right now and not worry about the results. I want to continue training after the World Cup and focus on short course World Championships in December. I definitely want to check out the nightlife in Korea, it looks like it would be fun," she mentioned. [via World Aquatics]

Kate Douglass impressed everyone with her performance at the Paris Olympics, where she won gold medals in the 200m breaststroke and the 4x100m medley relay and silver medals in the 200m individual medley and the 4x100m freestyle events.