Kate Douglass breaks world record in 50-meter freestyle, twice

For now, at least, Kate Douglass has the edge on former Virginia swimming teammate Gretchen Walsh — and the rest of the world — in the women's 50-meter freestyle.

Your move, Gretchen. You have some work to do.

At Saturday's Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif., Douglass twice broke the world record in the 50 free. She swam a time of 23.49 in the morning preliminary round, then topped it at 23.19 in the evening final.

"I had to do a few double takes," Douglass told reporters after the final. "I was not really sure I was seeing that right because that time just seems like crazy-fast to me. Even this morning, going twenty-three four seemed crazy. Twenty-three one is scarily close to twenty-two, and that's just not something I thought that female sprinting was going to get to anytime soon."

Douglass first set the record at 23.59 at the TYR Swim Pro Series in Indianapolis on June 16. Nine days later, Walsh went 23.55 at the Sette Colli Trophy meet in Rome to claim the mark.

Again, Douglass had little time to celebrate her record on Saturday night. Less than half an hour after leaving the pool, she was back, finishing second in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.57). Later, she joined Walsh in helping Team USA win gold in the 4x100 medley relay (3:50.43).

It was a productive meet for Douglass, who earlier joined Walsh in helping the U.S. set a world record in the mixed 4x100 medley relay (3:36.70). She narrowly missed setting another world record on Friday when she swam the opening leg of the 4x100 free relay in 51.69 seconds, just .01 seconds shy of the mark set by The Netherland's Marrit Steenberger earlier this year.

Douglass finished the four-day meet with six medals (four gold). Walsh came away with seven medals, including five gold (three relays and the 50 and 100 butterfly).

Meanwhile, Virginia junior Sara Curtis twice broke her own world record in the women's 50-meter backstroke at the European Championships in Paris. She clocked in at 26.63 seconds in Wednesday's semifinals of the non-Olympic event, then topped it with a time of 26.56 in Thursday's final.

On Saturday, Curtis broke her own Italian record in the 50 free by finishing third with a time of 23.99 seconds. Her previous national mark was 24.09.

Current and former Virginia swimmers now hold a tally of18 world records.

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