{"id":626246,"date":"2025-11-13T05:22:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=626246"},"modified":"2025-11-13T05:27:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:27:58","slug":"versatile-american-women-must-consider-new-schedule-on-road-to-los-angeles-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/versatile-american-women-must-consider-new-schedule-on-road-to-los-angeles-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Versatile American Women Must Consider New Schedule on Road to Los Angeles Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Versatile American Women Must Consider New Schedule on Road to Los Angeles Olympics<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year’s World Championships concluded with the American team of\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong>,\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong>,\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> and\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> winning gold in the women’s 400 medley relay in world-record time<\/a>. It is impossible to fully predict the next three years, but no one would be surprised if an identical scenario played out in the last swimming race of the Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n

That relay comes at the end of the nine-day Olympic schedule<\/a>, and all four of these women should be busy over that stretch, especially if they remain at or near the peak of their powers between now and 2028. Smith, Douglass, Walsh and Huske are each among the best swimmers in the world in a wide swath of events; each has won global medals in at least four different events during their careers.<\/p>\n

What might their schedules look like for the LA Games? These swimmers surely have interest in the newly-released event lineup<\/a>. The placement of the 50-meter stroke events is of particular focus since all would be medal contenders in one or more one-lap races.<\/p>\n

\"Regan

Regan Smith — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith has frequently navigated doubles at major international meets in recent years as she has navigated the 200 butterfly around her usual packed schedule of backstroke races. At the Paris Olympics, she swam the 200 fly final and 200 back double on the same night, and at the 2022, 2023 and 2025 World Championships, she has raced the 200 fly and 50 back in the same session for all three rounds. The new Olympic schedule splits up all of Smith’s events, but with a catch.<\/p>\n