The 2024 Paris Olympics saw many women athletes come to the forefront and make headlines. But amidst it stood tall a rivalry of speed between Kate Douglass and Regan Smith. And boy-oh-boy, was it a season to remember! Kate went on to win a medal in every event she took part in! She won the team silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and then went on to win gold in the 200m breaststroke. Without losing momentum, she won another gold in the medley relay. Meanwhile, Regan was close!

Regan Smith won three slivers in 100m as well as the 200m backstroke and the 200m butterfly. She also went on to win two golds in the 4×100 m medley and 4×100 m mixed medley. She won both her golds while breaking two world records! Despite both Regan and Kate piling up Olympic wins, they were not ready to lose momentum. While the world looked at the two as each other’s nemesis, it turns out that behind the curtains was a whole pot of camaraderie brewing. A camaraderie that turned into a whole plan to go into the World Cup!

The blossoming of the Kate-Regan friendship!

Turns out, the two Olympians are actually each other’s cheerleaders! And that’s not all. Regan Smith and Kate Douglass even planned their World Cup trip together. To make it even better, this wasn’t a competitive decision but more of a friendship pact. A pact so strong that Kate even went on to say, “I wasn’t going to do it if Regan wasn’t.” But why is that? “We were both talking about if we wanted to do it or not,” said Kate. The doubts came from having just completed the Olympic season and the physical toll that came with it. Meanwhile, Regan had a completely different approach.

Regan Smith went on to describe their plans for Worlds as a “fun little distraction” leading up to trials. That sounds like Smith underplaying the friendship, but it’s not! Their dynamics are such that “Kate’s in charge in the friendship.” And Kate fully backs this up; she even went on to playfully add, “I wear the pants.” So, was the World Championships just about having fun?

Well, yes and no. On one hand, it was a rare chance for Regan and Kate to spend some time together because the two have a long-distance friendship. Their meetings are always sparse. So the world was all about, as Kate puts it, “new experiences and having fun with swimming.” Meanwhile, Regan went on to add how, “After summer trips, it’s like, okay, I’ll see you at Golden Goggles, and then after that, it’s like maybe see you at a Tier Pro or something. It just sucks.” So the Worlds turned out to be the perfect place to make some memories! But they went beyond that and together etched four new world records!

The friendship that’s breaking world records!

At the World Championships, Regan Smith and Kate Douglass had a historic run both in the pool and the rankings. Together, they broke five world records and 11 American records. Regan went on to break two records. It all began in the pools of Incheon during the second leg. Regan went on to break the 100m backstroke world record by clocking 54.41. She had managed to cut 0.15 from Kaylee McKeown’s previous record. That was just the beginning!

The World Championships reached its final leg in Singapore, and Regan Smith broke her own record. She went on to improve her time and clock 54.27, making it the new world record in short course. Then she also went on to clock 1:58.83 in the 200m backstroke, breaking yet another world record. Meanwhile, Kate Douglass was just as close!

Kate went on to break records in the 200m breaststroke, clocking 2:12.72 in Singapore. By clocking that time, she broke her own record that she made in Incheon, clocking 2:14.16. Then she went on to break Abbey Weitzeil’s 100m freestyle record, which stood at 51.26. Kate went on to clock 50.82, setting the new American record. She also set American records in the 50m butterfly, both in Shanghai and Singapore. But that’s not all!

Both Kate and Regan, with the wins they were racking, stood extremely close on the charts. But in the last moments, Kate went on to take the overall win. But there is no doubt that the two turned their time together into a legacy of performances that the world shall remember.