INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The world record was the culmination of a five-year effort for Regan Smith.
It was a truly eventful journey.
Although he narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Olympics in his first race, he bounced back afterwards. Smith set a world record in the women's 100-meter backstroke at the USA Swimming Championships on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old from Minnesota finished in 57.13 seconds, easily beating the previous record of 57.33 set a year ago by Australia's Kayleigh McKeown.
Smith was just 17 when she set her first world record in the 100m at the 2019 World Championships, but she struggled to cope with the sudden new fame and ceded dominance of the event to McKeon.
“It's been a long time coming,” Smith said. “And now the time has finally come.”
There was no doubt about Smith's talent. Lack of self-confidence At times it was almost crippling.
She has been working with a sports psychologist since October to improve her mental condition, while her coach, Bob Bowman, best known for working with 23-time gold medallist Michael Phelps, has been helping her physically with a rigorous training regimen.
“It's been incredibly rewarding,” Smith said. “As a teenager, I didn't do much. There was no pressure. I was always the youngest. Nobody expected much from me. I was able to approach it without fear.”
Once she tasted success, it was hard to get back on top: She was selected for the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo, but finished third in the backstroke with McKeon winning the gold medal.
“The physical part has always been that, but the mental part has never been that,” Smith admitted, pointing to his head. “It's not like that here.”
Smith showed off his increased confidence and bounced back strongly after missing out on a spot on the U.S. team. 100 ButterfliesShe finished third behind Gretchen Walsh and Tori Huske.
With his back turned, Smith set a second world record in the heats, following on from Walsh's mark in the 100m butterfly semi-finals.
Katherine Berkoff finished in 57.91 seconds, placing second in the projected Olympic berth for the United States.
In the other final that night, Bobby Finke With a time of 7 minutes 44.22 seconds, he earned the right to defend the 800m freestyle gold medal he won in Tokyo.
Finke had to work hard to get to the wall ahead of Luke Whitlock, an 18-year-old phenom from Indiana who set a national age-group record in 7:45.19 and is likely heading into his first Olympics as the No. 2 U.S. finisher.
No one was within four seconds of the top two.
“At least for me, I think you need pressure to do well,” Finke said, “so I think the more pressure I feel, the more likely I am to do well. I'm happy with this time.”
Whitlock splashed powerfully over the water after going nearly neck and neck with the reigning Olympic champion, who won the 800m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle in Tokyo.
He is expected to become the youngest male swimmer to make the U.S. team since Phelps, who was 15 when he first qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“The last couple months or so, especially training has really picked up and I've talked about it with my coaches and we've got a really good plan,” Whitlock said. “I had it all planned out about a month and a half ago and I was really confident in the training I'd been doing so I knew I could execute it.”
Two of America's swimming stars, Caleb Dressel and Simone Manuel, had impressive debuts at the trials but still have work to do if they are to return to the Olympics.
Dressel recorded the third-fastest time in the 100-meter freestyle heats and semifinals, finishing behind Jack Alexie and Chris Juliano in both rounds. The tattooed Florida native will need to beat at least one of those two in Wednesday night's final to have a chance to defend his Olympic title in the event.
Manuel recorded the fastest time in the women's 100m freestyle heats and then placed second in the semifinals behind Tori Huske.
Both Dressel and Manuel are returning from extended breaks but there are doubts over whether they will be able to qualify for Paris.
Won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics Dressel's mysterious departure He later revealed that he needed a long break to rekindle his love for the sport, in the midst of the 2022 World Championships.
Manuel was the first black female swimmer to win an individual gold medal. Overtraining Syndrome Before the last Olympics, she managed to qualify for the U.S. national team, then stopped all exercise under the guidance of her doctors to allow her body to recover.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-Paris-Olympics
