INDIANAPOLIS — Regan Smith reclaimed the world file within the ladies’s 100-meter backstroke right here at U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis, outdueling her greatest rival from midway all over the world a month earlier than they’ll meet head-to-head in Paris.
Smith went 57.13 in Tuesday’s last, shattering Australian Kaylee McKeown’s earlier mark by two full tenths.
Smith, 22, slammed the water, and smiled in delight, as her household erupted joyously within the stands close by.
A former teen phenom, Smith first broke the world file in each the 100 and 200 backstroke in 2019, two days aside, at age 17. However through the years that adopted, she crumbled underneath the stress that got here with the data and the corresponding hype. She did not qualify within the 200 at 2021 Olympic trials; she took bronze within the 100 in Tokyo. After her freshman 12 months at Stanford, she had fallen out of affection with the game.
However she refound that love. She left Stanford, and went professional with coach Bob Bowman in Arizona. And he or she constructed again towards her greatest.
Within the meantime, McKeown took the file and established herself as the lady to beat in all backstroke occasions.
However in 2024, after a bout with mononucleosis in December, Smith took intention on the throne. She saved reducing her personal-best time. She swam nice in March. She broke the American file in Might, and once more Monday evening right here within the 100 backstroke semifinals at trials.
The world file, she knew, was inside attain.
Twenty-four hours later, it fell, and Smith certified for her second Olympic group.
“I’m so pleased with myself,” she mentioned.
