Kate Douglass Hits PRs in All Five Disciplines at Atlanta Classic

2019 ATLANTA CLASSIC

• May 17th-19th, 2019
• Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• LCM (50m pool)
• Meet Information
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Kate Douglass of the Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club had a stellar weekend at the Atlanta Classic, turning in lifetime bests in five out of her six events.

Her versatility is striking: she hit a new best in every stroke as well as the 200 IM. There’s no indication of her needing to rest for this meet with it being May and not quite yet in summer championships season, giving more weight to her time drops.

Check out her new bests below, with her previous bests in parentheses.

• 100 fly – 59.33 (1:00.34)
• 50 free – 25.23 (25.46)
• 200 IM – 2:13.55 (2:14.08)
• 100 breast – 1:09.63 (1:10.05)
• 100 back – 1:04.04 (1:05.08)

Her biggest drops came in the 100 fly and 100 back, where she took just over a full second off of her old best in both. She’s now top 20 in the 17-18 age group all-time rankings in the 100 fly and 200 IM as well as #9 in the 50 free.

Douglass had a big spring, which included her ripping a 21.67 in the 50y free, 47.98 in the 100 free, 53.05 in the 100 back, and a 51.74 in the 100 fly– all lifetime bests. It would seem that she probably has more to drop when she swims to a full taper this summer at a meet like Junior or Senior Nationals.

At age 13, Douglass became one of the youngest qualifiers ever for an Olympic Trials, and the 200 breaststroke was the first event in which she qualified. She also wound up making the 50 free, 100 breast, and 200 IM.

The breaststroke had fallen into the background for her a bit, as she made headlines over the next several years in sprint free. She broke Dara Torres’s 13-14 NAG record in the 50 free at age 14, then tied Simone Manuel’s 15-16 NAG record at age 16, and most recently clocked her current best of 21.67 to take the #3 spot in the 17-18 age group behind only American record holders Simone Manuel (LCM record holder) and Abbey Weitzeil (SCY record holder).

Her fly and back have seen marked improvements in the last couple of years to come closer to the level of her breaststroke and free– in back, she didn’t break 55 in SCY until 2018 when she went 54.53, and now she goes 53.05, while in fly, she was 55.0 in 2017, 52.2 in 2018, and now 51.74.

Douglass wasn’t able to qualify for any international meets this summer, and she’s too old to compete at the 2019 World Junior Championships, but she still can target a national meet in long course this summer. The top American junior 50y freestyler, she’ll head to the University of Virginia this fall to become part of their rapidly-improving program.