Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown set new short course world records at the World Cup meet in Westmont, Ill, marking the beginning of Australia’s era post-Ariarne Titmus. O’Callaghan, the Olympic 200-meter freestyle champion, clocked 1:49.77 in the same event on Saturday, surpassing the previous record of 1:50.31 held by Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong in 2021.
McKeown followed with a victory in the 200 backstroke on Sunday, finishing in 1:57.87 and outpacing her rival Regan Smith, who previously held the record at 1:58.04. This win reversed the tables as Smith had beaten McKeown in the 100 backstroke earlier and equaled her short course world record of 54.02.
In a departure from her usual strategy of trailing Smith before making a comeback, McKeown took an early lead in the 200 backstroke and maintained it until the end. The 24-year-old expressed her satisfaction with the performance, stating, “Regan pushed me through all the way. I wanted to go out hard and hold on; it’s not something that I’m used to doing.”
McKeown holds both the short and long course 200 backstroke world records, while Smith dominates in the 100 backstroke. These remarkable achievements come shortly after Ariarne Titmus, the former teammate and Olympic 400 freestyle champion, shocked the swimming world by announcing her retirement at 25.
Additionally, Kate Douglass of the United States set a new world record of 50.19 in the 100 freestyle, surpassing Cate Campbell’s previous best of 50.25 from 2017. Douglass, known for her versatility, now holds three short course world records, including the 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke marks.
The impressive performances of these swimmers set the stage for the upcoming final meet of the World Cup series in Toronto starting Thursday.