Kate Douglass successfully defended her title in Doha at the World Aquatic Championships to become a two-time world champion in the women's 200m IM. The American swimmer joins Katie Hoff and Katinka Hosszu as the third woman in history to win back-to-back 200 IM world titles.
Douglass, who won her first major international medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, clocked a personal best time of 2:07.05 in Doha. She was more than a second up on the other swimmers.
Douglass, 22, shared in an interview that she is really happy with the time.
"I was hoping for a best time in this race, and I just got under my best time, so I'm really happy with the time."
She continued:
"It was definitely a really painful race. So to see a 2.07 low at the end was pretty awesome. This was a great start to this me it's going to give a lot of confidence going into the summer to be able to go a best time right now in the season."
Douglass expressed excitement about the forthcoming races. She said:
"It gets me excited to see what I can do in a few months. I've got a few more races left after this. I'm just kind of excited to see what those have in store."
Kate Douglass used to struggle with individual medley
Douglass, who found her strength in the individual medley, initially used to struggle with it and even described it as the hardest race she swam. The young swimmer told Olympics.com that she used to dread the event.
Douglass said:
"It's the hardest race I swim. I used to struggle with it; it stressed me out a lot (and) I would get really scared before doing it."
But she took it as a challenge and overcame her fear. In 2023, Douglas skipped the IM event because it wasn't her favorite and she had already secured her World Championships spot in the 200m breaststroke and 400m freestyle relay.
The young swimmer made a return to the 200 IM. Douglass made her mark at the NCAA Championships with the fastest time in history. She also won gold at the World Championships in Fukuoka with a time of 2:07.17 and helped the US win four medals.
Douglass is now ranked in the world's top 10 and recognized as a versatile swimmer.