American Kate Douglass reclaims 50m freestyle world record

Kate Douglass broke the women's 50m freestyle world record at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, with a time of 23.49 seconds in the heats. This new record shattered the previous mark of 23.55 seconds, set by American Gretchen Walsh on June 28 at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome. Walsh had improved on Douglass's own world record of 23.59 seconds, which Douglass set on June 19.

Douglass expressed surprise at her performance and believed there were still improvements to be made technically. She also mentioned that barely missing a world record in the 100m freestyle earlier fueled her determination to break the record in the 50m event. Douglass felt more rested than when she broke the world record the first time and was amped up for the match.

In the final heat, Walsh clocked 23.78 seconds, the second-fastest time of the morning, while Australian Meg Harris finished third with a time of 24.22 seconds. Douglass is scheduled to compete in another individual swim on the final night of the four-day event, which brings together top swimmers from non-European nations. Douglass is also the second-fastest performer in history in the 200m breaststroke, qualifying second-fastest for the final behind Japan's Kotomi Kato.