CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – “Incroyable!” was the French Sport TV call of UVA swimming alum Kate Douglass breaking the world record she set just 6 days ago. Swimming the 200-meter break stroke World Cup event in the short pool in Singapore Thursday morning, Douglass finished in 2:12.72… smashing the record she set last week in South Korea by a whopping 1.42 seconds. That last week was her first career individual world record… and now she has two. Then just 18 minutes after this Thursday morning world record swim, she won the 100-meter individual medley in a personal best time.
And it was the 100-meter individual medley where Gretchen Walsh swam a world record 55.98… the first one ever on Grounds… during UVA swimming’s first dual meet of the season against Florida. In that world record swim, Walsh bested what had been Douglass’ American record time of 56.99. UVA President Jim Ryan posted on Instagram this week about that record-breaking swim, “Ok, this is pretty amazing: The first world record ever set on Grounds belongs to none other than Gretchen Walsh, who also broke for American records at a recent meet against Florida held at the AFC at UVA.”
Click here to watch Douglass’ world record swim in Singapore.
