America’s favorite, Regan Smith, has been swimming her way to greatness all around the world. Her most recent moment of greatness came at the final leg of the 2024 World Championships in Singapore. Regan arrived in Singapore; already a winner! She had just set the world record in the 100m backstroke. And she was going to make that swim again in Singapore. While the world did think that the fatigue might catch up, nobody saw what happened next, coming! She went on to break her own World Record that she set in Incheon.

With that win, Regan Smith now stands neck-and-neck with her biggest competition, Kate Douglass, on the charts. Douglass, too, has been on a winning spree. She, too, earned a third triple crown in Singapore in the 50m butterfly. Regan, however, has a chance with another triple crown in the 200m backstroke tomorrow to get her points up. This will bring Regan and her nemesis very close on the points. And maybe even an overall series lead! While the journey has been great for Regan, not every lap on this world tour has been easy. In fact, her new world record swim was the worst of them all!

Regan Smith struggled in the pools of Singapore!

In Singapore, the world saw Regan make a world record yet again. But behind the curtains, there was a story that the world did not see. Looking back at her 100m backstroke swim after her new world record, Regan went on to reveal something. “Really happy that I was able to improve on my time from last week, and I had a good time while doing it. Last week didn’t really hurt too bad; this week, I think I really attacked this one. I didn’t quite have it coming home, so my legs are screaming,” she said. After the year that Regan has had, it comes as no surprise.

Regan went from stacking up Olympic medals to creating world records. One can only imagine the intense physical toll it can take. But despite the exhaustion, Regan came out with results that spoke for themselves. She broke the 100m record world record that she had set in Incheon. Regan went on to clock 54.27, which cut down 0.14 seconds from her last record. Behind her was another fellow American swimmer, Beata Nelson, who clocked 55.72. With that, the day came to a rather glorious end for Regan. But tomorrow is a new day with a new race!

Regan will swim the 200m backstroke for her next triple crown. In Incheon, Regan had an interesting 200m backstroke. She went on to clock 01:58.83, thus creating the new American record. The win is crucial if Regan intends to take down her nemesis Douglass from the charts. But can she do it with ‘screaming legs,’ is the question. Keeping that aside, Regan was not the only one to experience exhaustion or make world records. There was one other man who shared the same coach, who went on to do something very similar to Regan Smith.

Regan Smith is not the only Bob Bowman student to win!

If there is one thing that Bob Bowman does to absolute perfection, it is creating champions. And Regan Smith is one of these champs. But there is also the man who won four Olympic golds on his roster, Leon Marchand. Bowman might not be with Marchand, but the magic swam through. Alongside Regan, Marchand also went on to create a world record. It was only at the last leg in Incheon that he revealed he was tired and fatigued. But guess what? He swam the 200m IM, clocking 1:48.88. And this was no ordinary record either!

Leon Marchand broke the longest-standing short course history record of 1:49.63 set by Ryan Lochte in 2012. This also meant that Marchand too, much like Regan, took the triple crown. However, while Regan took the 100m backstroke crown, Marchand took the 200m IM crown. Remember when Bowman said, “I think you’ll see in the World Cups that he’ll play with different events and see what happens.” Well, the world saw what happened, and boy-oh-boy, was it great! Now, the only true competition that remains is the only between Kate Douglass and Regan Smith.

When the pools of Incheon closed, the charts showed Regan leading. She had earned 59.4 points, which put her over Kate Douglass in the overall standings. But Regan was only 0.1 points ahead at 118.4! Now, with the new triple crown and world records, the charts have surely changed. The final leg of the World Championship promises to give out some exciting numbers, not just as prizes but as rankings at the end of it all! The fandom and world eagerly await the same.