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Kate Douglass of the United States broke her first career World Record in an individual event on Thursday night in Incheon as she bested Rebecca Soni’s 200m breaststroke record time set back in 2009.
For the first time in her career, Olympic gold medalilst Kate Douglass has World Record-holder attached to her name. On Thursday night on the first day of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, Douglass swam 2:14.16 in the 200m breaststroke, lowering Rebecca Soni’s 2:14.57 set all the way back in December 2009 at the Duel in the Pool in Manchester.
Douglass, the Olympic champion from August, improved her best time by over a full second from 2:15.77 as she set her first world record individually in her career. Douglass has long been a big talent in the United States, breaking out as a potential star in 2020 in her first year at the University of Virginia. Over the last four years, she has collected World titles, American records, and it all culminated in the Olympic gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in Paris.
🇺🇸 Kate Douglass breaks Rebecca Soni WR from 2009 with an incredible swim in the 200m Breaststroke #SWC2024 #FASTLANE #UNITEDBYRACING pic.twitter.com/uSDfld15rJ
On Thursday night, she added to her legacy.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting that time,” Douglass said. “It’s not much of a secret but I think I am pretty good at this event. I am very happy with the result. 
“To come away with a new World Record-time was a surprise,” Douglass said. “I never thought I would be capable of getting that. It’s a very exciting feeling and I am looking forward to seeing how I improve in the 200m breaststroke this year. It’s been an exciting meet in Korea, I love it, and I appreciate the fans who came to see us and cheer us on.
“I definitely took a little break after the Paris Olympics. I wanted to give the World Cup a try, as I have never been to one before. I felt like if there is any year to travel and take the pressure off of swimming, that post Olympics would be the year to do it. 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. And we hope to explore the city as well.
“It was definitely a great night. The record was really fun.”
Douglass, holding six or seven strokes on each 25m, put on a masterclass in breaststroke swimming as she won by five seconds over Australia’s Tara Kinder (2:19.21).
Later on in the session, Douglass set a new best time in the 100m IM with a 56.97, improving her 56.99 from last week in Shanghai as she remains third all-time.
She won that over the likes of China’s Yu Yiting (57.88) and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (57.95), who won the 400m freestyle earlier in the session at 3:56.78.
🇺🇸 Kate Douglass is heading to Incheon 🇰🇷 leading the #SWC2024 rankings 🤩 pic.twitter.com/McevwGyAWU
Douglass is currently in a race for the overall World Cup crown as well, as she leads American teammate Regan Smith by three points. Smith won the 50m backstroke at 25.71, just off her best time of 25.70 set last week in Shanghai.
“It was great,” Smith said. “I executed it really well. I was really deep on my start this morning so I needed to be a bit shallower tonight and I had a great wall as well. I was a little bit long on my finish but I am happy with it.”
Smith was unable to double up on wins, as she was beat in the 200m butterfly final by Australia’s Bella Grant, who out-kicked Smith on the back half, taking the win at 2:03.13 to Smith’s 2:03.21.
Grant, age 19, moved up to 14th all-time as the World Juniors silver medallist won her first World Cup race.
“I am super, super happy with it,” Grant said. “It’s my very first World Cup. I just wanted to come and get some race experience. It’s my first competition on the senior stage. I competed at Junior Worlds last year and that was an incredible experience.
“Coming here is about getting race practice – races are the best way to train. I would not have picked this result this morning and a 2:03.1. I just wanted to swim faster than this morning and to work those skills in the race. I look forward to racing in Singapore and hoping to back it up and repeat what I did tonight.”
Smith was off her best time of 2:01.85 from last week, but she was gracious in defeat.
“It was important to race against some really great competition,” Smith said. “(Bella Grant) gave me a great race. That was really fun. It’s fun being down to the wire and knowing you have one 25 left and you are neck and neck. I think it was a great mental practice so it was a win.”
 
The star of the day for the men’s field was Switzerland’s Noe Ponti. Fresh off a World Record last week in the 50m butterfly, Ponti won the 100m butterfly in Incheon. With his goggles off his eyes at the end, Ponti won the final in 48.81, holding off the likes of Nyls Korstanje (48.99) of the Netherlands.
“I lost my goggles and I could not stop so I had to keep going,” Ponti said. “Underwater I was opening my eyes and trying to see but it was difficult. One of my strengths is to take it out fast and hope that I would not die. It was not my normal strategy. I went out 0.6 faster than last week. In the end it was pretty hard and I still had the 100 IM. Compared to last week it’s not as fast.”
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Ponti returned later to win the 100m IM in a dead heat with France’s Leon Marchand at 51.00. Last week, 0.01 separated Marchand and Ponti in the 100m IM, and this week, nothing could separate them.
“It was a fun one,” Ponti said. “Last week was really close, now it’s tied. It’s always fun to race these guys and let’s keep it going next week.”
“That was a really fun race,” Marchand said. “I was really far from those guys, I couldn’t see what was happening, but I am excited to race those guys every time. It was really fun.”
Ponti and Marchand won over Italy’s Thomas Ceccon, who led after 50 meters and finished third overall at 51.15.
Ponti leads the World Cup points standings with 95.1 points over Korstanje (79.9) and Marchand (77.3).
China’s Qin Haiyang (74.2) is fourth overall as he got beat in the 100m breaststroke final by Ilya Shymanovich (56.10). Qin could not come over the top as he was second at 56.22.
“My performance was similar to the result in Shanghai,” Qin said. “I didn’t have a lot of training for these World Cup events but the result was better than I expected.”
China was able to get a win in the men’s 400m freestyle with Olympic champion Pan Zhanle taking down Olympic bronze medallist Kim Woo-min in his home nation as Pan stayed even with the field and pounced on the last 25m, winning at 3:36.43.
“It was a great opportunity and an honour to participate in the World Cup competition,” Pan said. “However because of the travel from one meet to another I was not in my best condition. This medal gives me confidence for the rest of the competition.”
Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (3:37.04) was second, ahead of American Kieran Smith (3:37.15), while Kim faded to fifth at 3:39.84 after leading for 200 meters.
“I enjoyed this race, especially in Korea and with world class swimmers in the pool,” Kim said. “I am sorry that I could not find the speed necessary to win the race. Next time, I will prepare well using my physical strength where possible.”
South Korea was able to celebrate a win in the men’s 50m freestyle as 22-year-old Ji Yu-chan swam 20.80 in a new Asian record, breaking the tie he held with Japan’s Kosuke Matsui at 20.95. Ji, the Asian Games champion, won over Australia’s Isaac Cooper (21.07) as the Koreans showed out well in their home nation.
“I wanted to make a good performance because it was my first international competition in Korea,” Ji said. “I am glad that I swam a good race. I’m happy to win an international title after a long time of competing. I had good results in the morning preliminaries, so I was confident about racing tonight.
“My strengths are starting and turning, so the short course is well suited for me. I think l got a good result because I enjoyed the race. I look forward to enjoying the next international events and hope to deliver a good result too.”
Ji finished 28th in Paris in this event in a relatively disappointing showing, but he was able to rebound in Incheon for a good performance for the Korean people.
Poland’s Kasia Wasick won the women’s 50m freestyle at 23.51, while South Africa’s Pieter Coetze also won the men’s 200m backstroke at 1:50.05 as they set themselves up for a triple crown next week in Singapore.
“It’s definitely nice to be able to improve from one meet to another,” Wasick said. “It was a good result. I am definitely working on the details of short course competition. I tried to sharpen the details, improving the turns and the breakouts. It was definitely hard on all of us traveling 16 hours to Shanghai but I just have to do my job. I am very happy with my second win in the 50. I’m excited that I am in the game (to possibly win 3 titles in a row).”
Top 6️⃣ Athletes of the #SWC2024 Rankings after the first day of racing in the #FASTLANE of Incheon 🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/ByVibHIRjG
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