SWIMMING: World record for American Regan Smith in short-course 100 Back and U.S. record in 200 Back at Incheon World Cup!

More records for American swim star Regan Smith! (Photo: World Aquatics)

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≡ INCHEON WORLD CUP ≡

The second of three legs in the 2024 World Aquatics World Cup was in Incheon, South Korea, where American star Regan Smith grabbed two short-course (25 m pool) records.

After winning the women’s 50 m Backstroke on Thursday, she dominated the 100 m Back on Friday, easily out-distancing the field and winning in 54.41, smashing the world mark of 54.56 by Olympic champ Kaylee McKeown (AUS) from her national championships earlier this year. She won by more than a second-and-a-half from Canada’s Ingrid Wilm (56.14), with American Beata Nelson third (56.41).

Smith, 22, who won Olympic silvers in the 100 and 200 m Backstrokes in Paris, another silver in the 200 m Butterfly and two relay golds, completed a record set as she also owns the long-course (50 m pool) record in the 100 Back at 57.13 from the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis last June.

But she wasn’t done and came back on Saturday to win the 200 m Back in an American Record of 1:59.60, erasing Missy Franklin’s 2:00.03 mark from 2011. She again won by more than 1.5 seconds.

So, Smith finished with three wins in Incheon, plus a second in the women’s 200 m Butterfly, held on Friday, 10 minutes after she won the 50 m Back.

Olympic teammate Kate Douglass, who claimed the world short-course record in Incheon in Thursday’s 200 m Breaststroke at 2:14.16, also won the 100 m Medley in 56.97 the same night and then returned on Friday to repeat her Shanghai World Cup victory in the women’s 50 m Butterfly in 24.73, a full-half-second ahead of the field.

In the women’s Freestyle events, Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey – the 100 and 200 m Olympic Free bronze winner – won both events, in 51.73 and 1:51.02, repeating her wins in Shanghai. Poland’s Kasia Wasick was second in the 100 m Free in 52.19, but repeated her Shanghai won in the 50 m Free in 23.51.

Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey won twice, in the women’s 400 m Free in a lifetime best of 3:56.78, with Haughey second (3:58.06), and in the 400 m Medley – as in Shanghai – in 4:26.23.

China’s Yiting Yu won the 200 m Medley on Saturday in 2:04.74, beating Harvey (2:05.23), after being second to Douglass in the 100 m Medley on Thursday and second to Harvey in the 400 m Medley on Friday.

Teammate Qianting Tang, the Paris 100 m Breaststroke silver winner, repeated her Shanghai wins in the 50 m Breast (29.03) and 100 m Breast (1:02.82). Finland’s Laura Lahtinen repeated as the 100 m Fly winner, in 55.76.

The men’s events did not have the record-setting performances of the women, but many of the Shanghai winners were once again first to the touch.

First and foremost was French star Leon Marchand, the Paris quadruple gold medalist, who repeated his three wins from Shanghai in the 100 m Medley (51.00, in a tie with Swiss star Noe Ponti) on Thursday, then by himself on Friday in the 200 m Medley (1:50.91) and Saturday in the 400 m Medley (3:58.20, national record). Two meets, six races, six wins (one a tie).

Ponti, who got a world record in the men’s 50 m Fly in Shanghai and won the 100 m Fly, triumphed in both again in 21.76 and 48.81. That’s five wins in two meets.

South African star Pieter Coetze repeated his wins in the 100 m and 200 m Backstrokes from Shanghai, but added the 50 m Back, winning in 22.80 over Australia’s Isaac Cooper (23.10). Coetze was a clear winner in the 100 Back (49.93) and 200 Back (1:50.05).

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Olympic 100 m Free gold medalist – and world-record setter – Zhanle Pan (CHN) defeating quality fields in the 400 m and 800 m Freestyles! Pan won the 400 m Free on Thursday in 3:36.43, taking down Britain’s Duncan Scott (3:37.04), the Tokyo 2020 200 m Free silver medalist, with American Kieran Smith third (3:37.15). He set a national record in the 800 m Free on Friday in 7:35.30, crushing the field by almost four seconds.

Scott repeated his Shanghai win in the 200 m Free in 1:40.29, with Smith third in 1:42.36. He was also second to Marchand in the 200 m Medley.

China’s Haiyang Qin, who swept the 50-100-200 m Breast Worlds titles in 2023 but had a tough Olympics in 2024, won the 50 m Breast on Friday in 25.76 and the 200 Breast on Saturday in 2:02.57. He was second in the 100 m Breast on Thursday.

The Freestyle sprints were won by Yuchan Ji (KOR: 20.80) at 50 m, and Australian Jamie Jack in 46.48 at 100 m. American Trenton Julian repeated his Shanghai win in the 200 m Fly in 1:51.00.

The World Cup series will conclude in Singapore from 31 October to 2 November, with a lot of money on the line for the overall series winner – Smith and Douglass are right up there – and for those who can string together event sweeps of all three legs.

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