Kate Douglass, swimmer and scientist, trounced her rivals with a 2:12.50 World record in the 200m breaststroke on day 4 of the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest this evening.

In other action, day 4 also witnessed World records from Douglass's teammates Regan Smith (gold, 50m backstroke, 25.23) and Gretchen Walsh (semi, 100m butterfly, 52.87) - reports to follow; an historic victory for Carles Coll Marti, of Spain in the men's 200m breaststroke (2:01.55); and gold in a World Junior record of 22.47 for neutral athlete Miron Lifintsev in the 50m backstroke.

Douglass Dispatches Her Rivals From Go To Gold

Victory marked the third world s/c record set by the Olympic champion since late October and went a long way to putting to rest talk of whether Russian Evgenia Chikunova, born on the same day in November as Douglass but four years apart, might have made an impact on the American's victory at the Games in Paris on August 1:

W200Br: It’s Gold For Douglass & Her Doppelgänger

The USA surely felt not only joy but relief when Kate Douglass took the 200m breaststroke title in an Americas record of 2:19.24…

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

At the Duna Arena in the Hungarian capital today, Douglass dispatched all rivals in the opening 50m and went from strength to strength all the way to gold in a time 0.22sec swifter than the second of her World records on World Cup tour in October.

The global standard had stood to doping controversy Yuliya Efimova*, of Russia, at 2:14.39, since 2013, at the time Douglass clocked 2:14.16 at the Incheon round of the Cup on October 24. A week later, the American delivered a stunning 2:12.72 a the final round of the Cup in Singapore.

Douglass' WR splits compared:

30.38; 1:03.88; 1:38.07; 2:12.50 Budapest, Dec 13, 2034
30.47; 1:04.07; 1:38.33; 2:12.72 Singapore, October 31, 2024

That opening fire from coach Todd DeSorbo's charge at the University of Virginia ended speculation that there might be a challenge from Chikunova, back in the fold even though she felt unable to sign the required agreement of neutrality to race at the Olympics against a backdrop of the murderous and illegal war on Ukraine by former Olympic-Order recipient Putin and his Moscow accomplices.

By the 100m mark, the gap between the World s/c record holder and the World l/c record holder from a swim back home in Kazan in spring 2023, was 1.78sec. With 50m to go, Douglass had extended her lead to 2.15, the neutral athlete whose nationality is an unavoidable part of her story, unable to get into close connection.

The last two lengths had Douglass outpacing Chikunova yet again, her victory margin 2.64sec confirmed when the silver medallist stopped the clock at 2:15.14, with Alex Walsh taking a second bite of the cherry for the USA, on 2:16.83 for bronze ahead of a 2:17.30 from another neutral athlete, Alina Zmushka, of Belarus.

Short comment: Yes, both warring nations have been mentioned, because, quite frankly, using "neutral A" and "neutral B" to describe athletes from those two nations is an identifier too far and, I assume, is being used because "neutral" relays are being allowed to set records in Budapest. When a quartet steps up and competes as a relay, they do so as national teammates, not neutral athletes.

More on that and the concept of neutrality at some other time but a useful starting point for anyone wondering why it matters in the context of sport might listen to this - and weep not only for Russians athletes but all her citizens living in a system of coercion and fear:

PATRIOT - by Alexei Navalny

BBC Sounds - Patriot by Alexei Navalny - Available Episodes

Listen to the latest episodes of Patriot by Alexei Navalny on BBC Sounds.

BBC

Chikunova opted out of Paris on grounds that she was unwilling to sign the conditions of participation form: this page and links at the International fencing federation, FIE, offered a useful steer a the time. We reported here:

No Parity Games In The Paris Pool As Men Top The Numbers But No Rylov & Other Russians

There will be no male-female parity in the pool at the Paris Olympic Games, World Aquatics has confirmed in an announcement that of the 854 athletes entered in swimming competitions, 463 of them are men and 391 women. A reminder of why the men do not include Evgeny Rylov

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Quite what makes the difference between Paris and Budapest, apart from the political distance and proximity of those cities to Putin, is unclear to me as I write.

End of comment

Meanwhile, Douglass is making great use of technology she has helped to develop as a scientist. More on that here:

Douglass & Her Doppelgänger Dance With Data To Party In The Paris Olympic Pool

Thanks to Newton’s calculus, “Mathematics, physics and technology have revolutionised swimming. The idea is that biomechanical and hydrodynamic minutiae are variables in a complex physical and mathematical problem. By optimizing these “variables,” swimmers can reach near perfection.”

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

More day 4 coverage:

Walsh Wallops The WR Books Twice More: 52.8 100 ’Fly Semi The Warm-Up For 55.11 Gold in 100IM

Before the medley victory, a first-ever sub-53 100 ’fly for women makes Walsh faster on butterfly than the 1990s World 100m s/c records on freestyle of Van Almsick and Le and takes the American within a whisker of Swedish sprinter Therese Alshammar’s first global standard on freestyle 25 years ago

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

USA Takes Down Six WRs In A Day, Two Each For Walsh & Hobson In The Mix

Gretchen Walsh and Luke Hobson - inside Paul Biedermann’s shiny suits 200m free mark leading the USA to a WR victory in the 4x200 free - accounted for two WRs each as Americans went swooped up six new global standards on day 4 the World S/C Champs, Regan Smith among the dashing pioneers

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Swiss Pioneer Ponti Now His Nation’s First Swimmer To Claim Two World Titles

Noè Ponti flowed through his quartet of speedy talent in second on ’fly (Michael Andrew a touch faster down the first length), first after backstroke, third after breaststroke (Andrew ahead again) before thumping the rest with a 12.30 on freestyle as he only man inside 13 down the last length

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

In other finals...

Women's 50m backstroke final:

Men's 200m breaststroke final:

Men's 50m backstroke final:

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