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By Simon Smale
Topic:Swimming
Regan Smith now holds three of the six backstroke world records. (Getty Images: Yong Teck Lim)
Regan Smith claimed Kaylee McKeown's short-course 200m backstroke world record at the World Cup event in Singapore.
McKeown missed the meet after withdrawing from the World Cup to prioritise her mental health.
The World Short Course Championships will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from December 10-15.
It was not so long ago that Australian superstar Kaylee McKeown could have claimed all six backstroke world records across long- and short-course pools.
Now, she is left with two after American backstroke star Regan Smith claimed the 200-metre short-course record at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Singapore.
Smith, who McKeown beat to gold in the 100m and 200m back at the Paris Olympics, finished in 1 minute and 58.83 seconds, taking 0.11 seconds off the previous mark, held by the Australian.
Australian Iona Anderson finished third in 2:01.98.
Smith had already further lowered her 100m backstroke mark with a 54.27 the day before, marking a hugely successful meet.
Regan Smith won $US10,000 for breaking the world record. (Getty Images: Yong Teck Lim)
"We have been having so much fun over the course of these three stops," Smith told media at the World Cup series.
"It's been a blast. This is a World Cup, it is so much fun and I want to keep doing it in future years."
McKeown had competed on the first day of the first leg of the three-leg World Cup in Shanghai.
There, she beat Smith in the 50m backstroke in a new World Cup leading time of 25.36, but withdrew from further competition to prioritise her mental health.
"I would like to thank World Aquatics for the opportunity to come out and race at World Cups, it's been so much fun here in Shanghai," McKeown wrote on Instagram in October.
"Putting my mental health first I've decided to cut my experience short.
"As an athlete it's so important to listen to your heart and to know when enough is enough.
"Time for a well overdue break."
Last year, McKeown broke several world records and won the overall women’s title during the World Cup series.
Kaylee McKeown has won her third backstroke title in consecutive days in Budapest to seal the World Cup series crown and a $158,000 jackpot.
However, despite her stunning performance in Paris, McKeown was back in action soon after, competing in the Australian short-course Nationals in September.
"I was going a bit stir crazy, sitting at home," McKeown said in Adelaide.
"So I decided to jump back in two and a bit weeks ago and [I am] just increasing the sessions."
It proved a good choice, as she broke the almost five-year-old 100m short-course backstroke world record, taking 0.33 off compatriot Minna Atherton's mark.
Then she was non-committal about competing in the World Short Course Championships in December, saying she would not put any pressure on herself.
McKeown was named in the squad of 24 for the Championships, set to be held in Budapest, which includes 10 Paris Olympians and eight debutants.
Kaylee McKeown beat Regan Smith in both the 100m and 200m backstroke in Paris. (Getty Images: Maddie Meyer)
Short-course swimming takes place in a 25-metre pool, making for more turns and faster times than a long-course 50m pool, which is the size of pool the Olympics takes place in.
McKeown now holds the non-Olympic 50m backstroke world record and the long-course 200m back, but having claimed their year's two major prizes in Paris, she is unlikely to be too phased by losing her records.
Two months ago Kaylee McKeown was the world record holder in the 100m backstroke, before having it whipped away from her by Regan Smith — but this race proved once again that it's the timing that counts at the Olympic Games.
Smith, on the other hand, who broke McKeown's 100m long-course mark before the Olympics, was bullish.
"I want to go to the short-course worlds and have just as much fun as I had here.
"I think life is too short to take stuff like this so seriously. I've been having so much fun, and that's what swimming should be. And so I think my goal at short-course worlds is to swim fast and enjoy it."
Elsewhere in Singapore, Aussie Isaac Cooper won the men's 50m back in 22.61, Mo Johnson finished third in the 800m, while Brittany Castelluzzo won the 200m butterfly and came third in the 200m free.
There were plenty of other Paris Olympians in action as well, including French hero Léon Marchand, who swept the medley events, breaking the world record in the 200m IM.
Meanwhile, Kate Douglass of America won four events, including breaking the world record in the 200m breaststroke as she edged Smith for the overall World Cup title and a cheque for $US100,000 ($152,000).
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