Kate Douglass Breaks 50m Freestyle World Record Twice at Pan Pacs

Kate Douglass lowered her own world record in the women's 50-meter freestyle for the second time on Saturday, winning the Pan Pacific Championships final in Irvine, California, with a time of 23.19 seconds.

Earlier in the day, during the morning preliminaries, Douglass swam 23.49 seconds to take the mark away from teammate Gretchen Walsh. Walsh, who finished second in the evening final in 23.74 seconds, had held the record of 23.55 seconds since June. This marks the third time Douglass has lowered the world record in the 50-meter freestyle.

She first set the record at 23.59 seconds on June 19 at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis, and Walsh then lowered it nine days later. Douglass, a five-time Olympic medalist, also competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, finishing second in 2:22.57 behind Alexanne Lepage of Canada, who won in 2:21.73. The Pan Pacific Championships also saw Johannes Liebmann of Germany break the men's 1,500-meter freestyle world record with a time of 14 minutes 26.79 seconds, becoming the first swimmer to finish under 14 minutes 30 seconds. The meet includes swimmers from the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, and China.