Regan Smith breaks American record in 200-meter backstroke and narrowly wins Incheon top prize

WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2024 – INCHEON

One day after breaking the world record in the women’s 100-meter backstroke Regan Smith In the 200-meter distance she barely achieved the same, but still set the American record.

Smith swam 1:59.60 and won the race over two seconds ahead of Belarus Anastasiya Shkurdai. This makes Smith the first American woman to finish under two minutes in the race, breaking the legend’s previous record Missy Franklin. Franklin swam 2:00.03 at the 2011 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, historically a particularly fast pool on this tour.

At the time, Franklin’s swim was a world record that stood for over two years before it was finally broken Katinka Hosszu. The current world record of 1:58.94 belongs to Smith’s rivals Kaylee McKeown as of 2020. McKeown began racing in this series on day one in Shanghai, but withdrew because she needed to focus on her mental health.

Splits comparison

Smith’s previous best of 2:00.42 came last week at the World Cup in Shanghai. While she began her record-breaking performance with nearly identical divisions on Saturday, she actually was accelerated in the back half, splitting her last three 50s negatively, leaving eight tenths between her and the record.

Smith led for most of the race except for the first 65 meters or so, where her American teammate competed Beata Nelson was ahead before falling back to 4th in the final standings.

With this swim, Smith now has the ninth-best performance and is the sixth-best performance in the history of the event. The World Cup record holder Daryna Zevina (1:59.35) is also ahead of her.

Top 10 Women of All Time, SCM 200 Backstroke

1. Kaylee McKeownAustralia – 1:58.94 (2020)
2. Katinka HosszuHungary – 1:59.23 (2014)
3. Minna AthertonAustralia – 1:59.25 (2019)
4. Daryna Zevina, Ukraine – 1:59.35 (2016)
5. Emily SeebohmAustralia – 1:59.49 (2015)
6. Regan SmithUSA – 1:59.60 (2024)
7. Missy FranklinUSA – 2:00.03 (2011)
8. Shiho Sakai, Japan – 2:00.18 (2010)
9. Beata NelsonUSA – 2:00.27 (2020)
10. Claire CurzanUSA – 2:00.53 (2022)

Smith’s previous personal best ranked her 9th all-time. McKeown holds three of the seven times faster than Smith.

Taken holistically, Smith’s swim earned her just enough points to place ahead of her U.S. teammate Kate Douglass for the meet win in Incheon and the overall series lead before the final stop in Singapore. The winner of each stop will receive $12,000, while the runner-up will receive $10,000. The gap to the overall series winner varies from $100,000 for 1st place to $70,000 for 2nd place.

Douglass already won the top series award in Shanghai last week.