Regan Smith has done it again! This time, she just changed the distance. After breaking a world record less than 24 hours ago, Regan was back in the Singapore pools for the 200m backstroke finals. Any guesses on what happens next? Well, without losing any momentum, Regan went on to break Kaylee McKeown’s 2020 world record. While Kaylee’s record stood at 1:58.94, Regan, almost making it look easy, was 0.11 seconds faster. This is a moment for the ages, and it has left the fandom shaken to the core!

In Singapore, the world saw history being made not once but twice by Regan. Right before she broke the 200m backstroke record, she cut off 0.14 seconds from her own world record. Regan went on to clock 54.27 in the 100m backstroke to break the record she made during the Shanghai leg. However, Singapore hasn’t been easy on her. It was just yesterday that she went on to say, “This week, I think I really attacked this one. I didn’t quite have it coming home, so my legs are screaming.” Now, after Regan said that, it is only obvious expectations slightly dropped. But in complete style, she caught the fandom by surprise and exceeded the expectations!

Despite failing legs, Regan Smith doesn’t miss a moment to catch history by surprise!

Regan Smith, almost making the ‘screaming legs’ look irrelevant, went on to clock 1:58.53 in the 200m backstroke. It took the world at large by surprise. One fan, unable to process the shock, even went on to write, “Regan Smith’s control on this 200 back, wtf.” To be fair, let’s not forget Regan is an eight-time Olympic medalist. Talk about consistency! But Regan is not one to rest on her laurels; she has done something more to add to the consistency factor.

Regan now also holds the world record in 100m backstroke in both 25m as well as 50m and 200m backstroke in 25m pool. Kaylee McKeown previously held all of those records. In fact, Regan has a new mission on hand. Kaylee still holds the record in 50m and 200m backstroke in 50m pools. While that remains on a larger agenda, something else monumental happened as Regan hit the finish line!

As one fan rightly sums it up, “Regan Smith did it again and again!” The netizen is not just talking about the world record but about the triple crown! Yesterday, when Regan won the 100m back, she also won the triple crown. A triple crown is won only when a swimmer wins in all legs of the championship. And Regan did just that with the 100m back and now with the 200m back as well!

Yes, that’s right. Regan Smith won the 200m back first in Shanghai, clocking 2:00.42. Then, in true Regan style, she recorded an even better time in Incheon. In the pools of Incheon, she went on to clock 1:59.60. That was history in itself! It made Regan the first American woman to swim the 200m back in under 2 minutes. If that wasn’t enough, she also broke the record previously held by Missy Franklin.

Franklin clocked 2:00.03 at the 2011 World Cup in Berlin, Germany, which was one of the fastest on the tour. Well, no more! Now, Regan Smith holds the spot and wears yet another triple crown. While the fandom’s overall reaction is happy, there are some who beg to differ.

Fandom is taking it happily, but not without a pinch of grief!

One of the fans wishing that the moment was more iconic went on to write, “Too bad Kaylee isn’t here to see them racing for these WRs!”. Well, it is true that the moment perhaps would have gone from iconic to historic if Kaylee was there, too! After all, it is her records that are being broken. Regan now holds the 100m back, which was previously held by Kaylee McKeown, who had clocked 54.56 at the 2023 Australian Short Course Championships. But that isn’t the only record that Regan has broken!

Regan Smith also broke the 100m long-course world record too! That was also held by Kaylee, whose record stood at 57.33. During the US Olympic trials, Regan went on to break the record, clocking 57.13. Regan now stands neck to neck at the cusp of history with Kaylee McKeown. She is close to rewriting history. But as she focused on that, there was a niche set of people who questioned her speed.

They went on to write, “That’s not a man, is it? U never know these days.” Now, while a highly debatable statement, it was not a question of gender. This was mostly a matter of speed. If compared to the recent men’s 200m backstroke, things get more interesting. The Singapore leg, day 1, also saw the 200m backstroke for men happen. In the same, Pieter Coetze clocked 1:49.88 and won gold.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Mora claimed the silver with a time of 1:51.07, while Jack Dahlgren clocked 1:52.80. The difference between Regan’s time and the first place is just 8.65 seconds! Now, for a woman who has been consistently defying the odds and records despite the physical toll. There is only going up from here. And let’s not forget Regan is just 22!

And it is how young she is that adds to the shock factor. Another fan went on to echo the emotion and wrote, “REGAN SMITH WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU DO!!!”. Well, in simple words, first, when 2024 began, she went on to win two Olympic golds and topped it off with three silvers. Then she went on to break a couple of world records at the World Championships and made it look like it’s just second nature. But she also did something else!

Regan held the ninth spot in the Top 10 Women of all time for the 200 Backstroke short course. Now that stands changed! On the list, Kaylee McKeown still stands at number one as she holds three of seven times clocked that are faster than Regan. But Regan has switched positions. She has moved from 9th to 6th! This also means that the charts for the World Championships also stand changed. This win might just have given Regan Smith enough points to get ahead of her nemesis, Kate Douglass. Is a meet-win in the books next for Regan Smith?