{"id":651266,"date":"2026-08-15T08:40:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=651266"},"modified":"2026-08-15T08:40:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:40:05","slug":"kate-douglass-sets-100-free-american-record-with-huge-props-to-steenbergen-moesch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/kate-douglass-sets-100-free-american-record-with-huge-props-to-steenbergen-moesch\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Douglass Sets 100 Free American Record with \u2018Huge Props\u2019 to Steenbergen, Moesch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate Douglass Sets 100 Free American Record with \u2018Huge Props\u2019 to Steenbergen, Moesch<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world record in the women\u2019s 100 freestyle hadn\u2019t moved since 2017. The American mark hadn\u2019t budged since 2019.<\/p>\n

When others started the wheels of history back in progress, Kate Douglass<\/strong> wanted in. And she very nearly got there Friday night.<\/p>\n

Douglass led off the American women\u2019s 400 freestyle relay<\/a> at the Pan Pacific Championships with a time of 51.69 seconds Friday night. That time in Irvine set the American record and brushed within .01 seconds of the world record, both with their ink fresh this year.<\/p>\n

Douglass was quick to credit the setters of those records \u2013 Marrit Steenbergen\u2019s<\/strong> world record of 51.68 and Anna Moesch\u2019s<\/strong> American mark of 51.88 \u2013 with helping her achieve that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to give huge props to both Marrit and to my teammate Anna Moesch, because I think watching them kill it in this race all season has really opened my eyes to what\u2019s possible in this event for me,\u201d Douglass said at the Woollett Aquatic Center. \u201cI don\u2019t think if Anna hadn\u2019t gone a 51, I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve set that as a goal for myself. So I think they were really my motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n