Kate Douglass

It's, if, if, if I'm looking at the season, I'm looking at it as a fan, this emotional experience, this visceral experience.

It's like I- The Kate Douglass fan gets the Kate Douglass shot out of a cannon Fort Lauderdale to Indy in the 50, and then you're shot out of a cannon again Indy to Pan Pacs really in the 100 free.

And we get the bonus of that 53 consequential generational swim, the 23.19. Um, if, if, if you're...

After the emotion settles, and maybe the emotion hasn't settled since that 23.19, but if you're looking back at Pan Pacs, what is more consequential for your schedule and for you, the 51 s- m- missing the world record by one one-hundredth in the 100 free, or the 23.19 because that 100 free is an unlock to many things.

Yeah.

And so that was kind of what I'd, you know, went in, was like, "I know that I am good enough [laughs] to be able to do that after a 50 free." But yeah, definitely in the moment I was like, "Oof, this sucks." [laughs]

On, on, on the note of the 200 breast, all year, pre-Indy, pre Kate Douglass world record in the 50 free, I was screaming on our podcast, because you didn't know what you were swimming.

And every time we'd talk to you, you'd just be like-

They're always going really quick, but they also have just ridiculous results at the end of the season.

I mean, Kate Douglass, 23.19 in the women's 50 freestyle.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Gretchen Walsh has just dropped a bunch of fast times, and you know, she's set world records during the regular season.

So I think knowing what goes into having to swim a 1,500 and seeing how people are feeling at different points in the race, like, you get more out of watching it.

But, um, I guess the raw speed and power from 50s, like Kate Douglass, is nuts.

She's so cool.

Um, and then having the versatility going from-

After Lilly King retired on the hundred breast it was, oh man, US women we have this void in the women's hundred breast.

And then Kate Douglass stepped up, and it was like, oh yes, we got Kate.

I mean she's so versatile.

She's gonna be the one taking it there.

It, I think it's a little bit more open.

Um, obviously we, we've talked about Kate Douglass and her ability to do whatever, now a new training partner-

Mm

... of Phoebe.

Yeah

... you know, we watch Kate Douglas go 23.1, and it's like you don't know for sure until she touches the wall whether or not that's a record-breaking swim, even though she's going fast.

And so, um, there is something really special about that, but I don't know how you balance that with entertainment when if it's not a record-breaking swim, then, you know.

Yeah.

But, um, and then you have the recovery speed, which is usually 0.2 in the air.

So for Kate Douglass, she hits her anchor kicks on both sides, right side and left side, and there's four kicks in sprint freestyle, right? Your catch, your exit, and then right, left.

Uh, Kate Douglass's stroke rate was a 115 on her right side and a 116 on her left side.

And then the power position, that six o'clock spot where you're... you know you're guaranteed to use your rotation and your pull correctly, Kate is both it on the left and the right.

Whereas Gretchen has a really janky connection in her sprint anchor kick.

So-

[laughs]

Shout out to Kate Douglass

[chuckles]

And again, is one of those ones where you, you so wish I could see her next to Kate Douglas now and just see that swim.

Yep.

Um, she has...

Really moved on

... stupidly.

I know the 50 free has for the women as well, and Kate Douglas.

Um, there are some humongous, or have been some humongous world records this summer.

Canada was the next on the medal table, with 3 gold medals, only one of those came from Summer McIntosh by the way, 4 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals.

And we may as well start off with Kate Douglas, who on the final day stole the show with her swim in the 50 freestyle.

She broke the world record in prelims, taking it back from her teammate Gretchen Walsh.

During a pro swim series in June, she surprised basically everyone by clipping Sarah Sostrom's world record by two one hundredths of a second, then held it for something like nine days before Gretchen Walsh, her teammate, took it from her.

And she had a solid swim, got silver, and then to pull off a triple at the end of the meet, she had the... 400 medley relay where she dropped a 51-01 on the anchor just to get the job done.

And I'm sure she was very tired.

Something that also probably flew under the radar for Douglas was the fact that she did clock a 24-99 personal best in the 51. butterfly I believe that was during prelims and she's like 25 oh something in the final placing second behind Gretchen Walsh which is why it would have kind of flown under the radar a little bit but it's worth noting that that makes her just the third swimmer to ever break 25 seconds for the longest time it was only Sostrom Gretchen Walsh has joined the club and now Kate Douglas has entered the club but when it's right next to Gretchen Walsh going so fast it's a little easier to forget that one Another swimmer that had just a phenomenal meet was Sam Short.

Now he wasn't breaking world records, but he was breaking records.