INDIANAPOLIS — Not all world records are equal. They might seem like they’d all be uniformly awesome in an uncomplicated way, but they don’t all feel like it. Not to Regan Smith, at least.
Five years ago, when Smith broke the world record in the women’s 100-meter backstroke at the 2019 world championships, it felt … kind of easy. So much of swimming was back then.
“When you’re 17, you’re a teenager, and I had not really done much to my name yet,” Smith said. “I had no pressure on me. I was always the youngest. Nobody really expected much out of me, and so it was so easy to walk into races feeling so fearless and not really caring what the outcome was.
“I really just shocked myself at that meet in 2019 because I didn’t believe I was capable of it.”
Here at U.S. Olympic trials, Smith again broke the world record in the event, swimming the 100 back in a scorching 57.13 seconds Tuesday night, punching her ticket to the Paris Games and beating Australian Kaylee McKeown’s previous world record time of 57.33 in the process.
As she looked up at the video board and saw her time, Smith balled her fingers into a fist, punched the water and screamed, “F— yeah!”
🗣️WOOORRRLLLDDD RECORRRDDD
Regan Smith. 57.13. Believe it. #SwimTrials24
