Regan Smith Takes Out US Open Record in 200 Back at PSS – Westmont

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – WESTMONT

• April 12-15, 2023
• FMC Aquatic Center, Westmont, Illinois
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Event Central
• Pre-Scratch timeline
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap

Regan Smith started under World Record pace and finished ahead of the US Open Record in the 200 backstroke on Saturday night in Westmont, Illinois, marking the fastest swim ever done on US soil and the 10th-fastest performance done anywhere in the world ever.

Smith swam 2:04.76, which including an opening 100 meter split of 1:00.38. That was a whopping .35 seconds under the World Record pace set in March by Australian Kaylee McKeown when she finished in 2:03.14.

That opening 100 split is a big bellwether  for Smith: when she set the World Record in this event in 2019, she opened in 1:00.37.

In finals at that meet, she opened in a ridiculous 59.45, but wound up a few tenths slower overall in 53.69.

Splits Comparisons:

At the end of last summer, Smith, 21, left Stanford after one season to turn pro and train with Bob Bowman and his staff at Arizona State.

That decision was impeccably-timed, as she’s caught a wave of momentum in Tempe that has included one of the most dominant NCAA performances in recent history from Leon Marchand a few weeks ago.

For Smith, the rebound began with the US Open, where she swam 57.95 in the 100 back and 2:05.28 in the 200 back, which was her best time in that event since her July 2019 World Record.

After a stomach bug disrupted her 2023-opener in Knoxville, Smith has now swum well at two straight Pro Swim Series – including hitting regular 57-second 100 backstrokes in-season.

Now her breakthrough 200 back that is the most exciting swim we’ve seen from her in years – even though we’re still two months away from the World Championship Trials.

That time would have won last year’s World Championship (though McKeown, the winner, was focused on the Commonwealth Games later in the summer). Bacon, the old US Open Record holder and last year’s World Championship silver medalist, was 5th on Saturday in 2:11.98, though coming out of the NCAA Championships, she’s in a very different place than Smith is.

Top 10 Performances All-Time, Women’s 200 LCM Backstroke:

1. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:03.14 (2023 NSW State Champs)
2. Regan Smith, USA – 2:03.35 (2019 World Championships – Semifinals)
3. Regan Smith, USA – 2:03.69 (2019 World Championships – Finals)
4. Missy Franklin, USA – 2:04.06 (2012 Olympics)
5. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.28 (2021 Australian Olympic Trials)
6. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.31 (2021 Sydney Open)
7. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.49 (2020 Queensland Medal Shots)
8. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.64 (2022 Victorian Open)
9. Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.68 (2020 Olympics)
10. (TIE) Regan Smith, USA (2023 PSS – Westmont) & Missy Franklin, USA (2013 World Championships) – 2:04.76

Earlier this week Smith won the 100 fly (56.92), 200 fly (2:07.92), and 100 back (57.90); she also had the second-fastest prelims time in the 50 back (27.54) but scratched the final.