INDIANAPOLIS – It took Regan Smith five years to achieve this world record.
What a journey full of ups and downs!
Bouncing back from a close Olympic call-up but no results in her first race, Smith set a world record in the women's 100 backstroke at the US Swimming Trials on Tuesday night.
The Minnesota swimmer touched in 57.13 seconds, comfortably surpassing the mark of 57.33 set a year ago by Australian Kaylee McKeown.
And Smith, 22, believes he can improve his record in Paris.
“I think 56 is a safe possibility, whether it's me or one of my competitors, who knows,” he said. “It was an amazing race, but it wasn't a perfect race. So I know there are things I can clean up and do better, and I'm going to work toward that.”
Smith was just 17 when he first set a world record in the 100m backstroke at the 2019 world championships. But he struggled to deal with the sudden, newfound fame, ceding dominance of the event to McKeown.
“It's a long time coming,” Smith said. “It's time.”
There was never any doubt about Smith's talent, but the lack of confidence was almost paralyzing at times.
Since October he has been working with a sports psychologist, which helped him change things from a mental point of view. His trainer, Bob Bowman, best known for his work with 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps, took care of the physical aspect with a grueling training regimen.
“This is incredibly rewarding,” Smith said. “When I was a teenager, I hadn't done much. There wasn't any pressure on me. I was always the youngest. Nobody expected much from me. I could do it without fear.”
Once he tasted success, he found it difficult to get back to the top. She made the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics, but finished third in the backstroke when McKeown took gold.
“I've always had it physically, but not mentally,” Smith said, adding, while pointing to his head, “I just didn't have it up here.”
Showing how much her confidence has grown, Smith bounced back emphatically after being edged out for a spot on the U.S. team in the 100 butterfly, where she finished third behind Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske.
Flipping onto his back, Smith set the trials' second world record, following Walsh's mark in the 100 butterfly semifinals.
Katharine Berkoff achieved the expected second Olympic berth for the United States with a time of 57.91.
In the other final of the night, Bobby Finke earned the right to defend the 800 freestyle gold he won in Tokyo with a time of 7 minutes, 44.22 seconds.
Finke had to work hard to make it to the wall ahead of 18-year-old Indiana phenom Luke Whitlock, who set a national record in his age group with 7:45.19 and will likely go to his first Olympics with second place in the United States. Joined.
No one else was within 4 seconds of the first two.
“I think I need pressure to do well, at least in my opinion,” Finke said. “So I feel like the more pressure I feel, the more likely I am to do well. I'm happy with the time we had.”
Whitlock splashed emphatically in the water after going practically blow-for-blow with the reigning Olympic champion, who swept the 800 and 1,500 freestyle in Tokyo.
He is expected to become the youngest male swimmer to make the U.S. team since a boy named Phelps, who was 15 when he qualified for his first Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
“Actually, in the last two months, especially the last two months, my training has really improved and now, talking to my coach, we had a really good plan,” Whitlock said. “We had everything planned out about a month and a half before this and I was very confident in the work I had been doing, so I knew I could execute it.”
Two of the biggest stars in US swimming, Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel, had impressive debuts at the trials, although there is still work to be done to return to the Olympics.
Dressel was the third-fastest finisher in the prelims and semifinals of the men's 100 freestyle, finishing behind Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano both times. The Floridian will have to beat at least one of them in Wednesday night's final to have a chance to defend his Olympic title in that event.
Manuel was the fastest qualifier in the women's 100 free preliminaries and placed second behind Torri Huske in the semifinals.
Dressel and Manuel return from long periods of inactivity that cast doubt on whether they could qualify for Paris.
Dressel, winner of five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, mysteriously walked away in the middle of the 2022 world championships, later revealing he needed an extended break to rekindle his love for the sport.
Manuel, the first black swimmer to capture an individual gold medal, was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome before the last Olympics. She barely managed to qualify for the American team and then stopped all physical activity under the care of a doctor to allow her body to recover.
The Associated Press and ESPN's D'Arcy Maine contributed to this report.
