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≡ WESTMONT WORLD CUP ≡
The blazing swimming continued at the short-course World Aquatics World Cup II in Westmont, Illinois, with world and American records going down for the second meet in a row. The most intense action was in the women’s Backstrokes:
● On Friday, five-time Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown (AUS) edged American sprint star Gretchen Walsh in the 50 m Back final, 25.63 to 25.65, with Paris 2024 200 m Free winner Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) getting third in 25.72.
● On Saturday, American Regan Smith, the two-time World long-course Backstroke gold medalist, took over at halfway and scored a win over McKeown and equaled her own 2024 world record of 54.02! McKeown was just behind in 54.04.
● Sunday’s 200 m Back final was eagerly anticipated and McKeown was ready, leading from the start and winning in 1:57.87, eclipsing Smith’s 1:58.04 world mark from 2024. Smith made her work for it, finishing second in 1:57.91 – no. 2 all-time – and setting an American Record and gaining on the last two laps.
That was not all that Smith was up to, however. On Friday, she won the women’s 200 m Butterfly in 2:00.20, an American Record, bettering her 2:00.28 at the Carmel World Cup the week prior. Smith remains the no. 3 performer all-time, with the nos. 3-4 performances.
O’Callaghan was also busy, and crushed the 200 m Freestyle world record on Saturday, touching in 1:49.77 – the first woman under 1:50 – and reducing the 1:50.31 mark by Siobhan Haughey (HKG) from 2021. Australian teammate Lani Pallister, a five-time World Short-Course gold medalist, was a distant second in 1:52.06.
As great as McKeown was, American Kate Douglass – the Paris 2024 200 m Breaststroke winner – was even better. Consider:
● She won the 100 and 200 m Breaststroke events easily in 1:03.14, and 2:14.57, with 2022 Worlds 200 m Medley World Champion Alex Walsh of the U.S. way back in the 200 Breast race in 2:18.54.
● Douglass finished second to sprint superstar Gretchen Walsh in the 100 m Medley, 55.77 to 56.42.
● On Sunday, she finished off her meet with a sensational world record in the 100 m Freestyle, timing 50.19 and taking down the eight-year-old mark of 50.25 by the legendary Cate Campbell (AUS) from 2017! O’Callaghan was second, but not close in 51.44. Amazing.
That’s three world records set or tied and McKeown and Smith will be at each other again next week. But there was more:
● What about Gretchen Walsh? Beyond the second in the 50 Back to McKeown, she won the 50 m Butterfly in 23.90, the no. 2 performance in history, and the 100 m Fly in 53.72, the no. 5 performance ever.
Just for good measure, she also won the 100 m Medley in 55.77, ahead of Douglass (56.42).
● Pallister dominated the 400 m Free, winning in 3:42.52, by more than 15 seconds. She then blasted the no. 2 time in history in the women’s 1,500 m Free, winning in 15:13.83, behind only Katie Ledecky’s 2022 world record of 15:08.24. She won by almost 17 seconds.
Alex Walsh, Gretchen’s older sister, won the 200 m Medley in 2:04.44 and Poland’s Kasia Wasick won the 50 m Free for the second meet in a row, this time in 23.30, ahead of Alex Perkins (AUS: 23.45) and O’Callaghan (23.81).
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What about the men? Sorry, no world records, but some impressive performances:
● Hungarian star Hubert Kos, the Olympic 200 m Backstroke winner, swept the Backstroke events for the second straight meet. He won the 50 in 22.91 ahead of Poland’s Kacper Stokowski (22.92), and won the 100 in 48.78, ahead of Italy’s Olympic 100 m Back champion Thomas Ceccon (49.60). Kos then won the 200 over Ceccon, 1:47.51 to 1:48.76.
● American Shaine Casas, the 2024 Worlds Short-Course 200 m Medley champion, swept the Medleys, taking the 100 in 50.45 over Swiss star Noe Ponti (50.76) and Kos (50.99). Casas won the 200 in 1:50.08 over Finlay Knox (CAN: 1:52.12) and the 400 in 3:57.41, beating Olympic bronzer Carson Foster of the U.S. (3:58.18).
● Dutch breaststroker Caspar Corbeau won the 50 in 25.52 over Ivan Shymanovich (BLR: 25.63), lost to Shymanovich in the 100, 56.41 to 56.43, then took the 200 decisively in 2:01.68.
● Canadian sprinter Ilya Kharun won the 50 m Free in 20.72 and the 50 m Butterfly in 21.69, with Ponti second in 21.80. Ponti, the three-time gold winner at the 2024 World Short-Course champs, won the 100 Fly, 48.,47 to 49.00, but Kharun grabbed the 200 m Fly over Ponti, 1:48.46 to 1:49.32.
In the 100 m Free, American Record setter Jack Alexy won in 45.84 over teammate Chris Guiliano (46.11) and Olympic 200 m Free bronzer Luke Hobson of the U.S. took that event in 1:40.62, over Guiliano (1:41.34).
Fantastic! There’s one more: the 2025 World Cup series will conclude next week in Toronto (CAN).
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