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American swimmer Katharine Berkoff expressed her emotions after breaking the 50m backstroke national record at the US Swimming Championships. She clocked a time of 26.97 seconds to win the title and claim the US record from Regan Smith.
Berkoff also defeated the likes of Smith and Claire Curzan during her race. The two eventually finished second and third, respectively. Notably, Berkoff is also the only American female swimmer to clock under 27 seconds in this event.
Speaking in an interview after her race, Berkoff shared that her goal was to complete the race under 27 seconds and was aiming to go even faster. Additionally, she also mentioned that this performance was a huge boost for her, just a few weeks before the World Swimming Championships, scheduled to take place next month. She said (via SwimSwam, 00:03 onwards):
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"That was the goal to go under 27. I want to be a tiny bit faster, but it's good motivation to for five weeks for now. Honestly, it was a super weird race, I couldn't see where everyone was and I felt kind of weird. So, I didn't expect to see that time when I hit the wall, but I was really happy with it."
With this feat, Katharine Berkoff moves to the second position in the World record list just behind Kaylee McKeown (26.86 seconds). Notably, Smith, whose national record Berkoff bested, was also the latter's teammate at the Paris Olympics 2024 in the 4x100m medley event.
Katharine Berkoff shares her aspirations for the long course season
Katharine Berkoff shared her thoughts on the areas of her technique she wants to work on for the 2025 long course season. The 24-year-old shared that she wants to apply some of the conclusions she derived last year in this upcoming season.
Berkoff further added that she is also looking forward to not putting much emphasis on the prelims and semis events. She said (via SwimSwam, 1:44 onwards):
"I think I'm looking forward to taking what I learned last summer and applying it to this upcoming season. I mean, I am just trying to learn how to pace myself better at meets, not put too much into prelims or semis. Just trying to swim a little smarter than I have."
Berkoff has had a good start to her 2025 season so far in the TYR Pro Swim Series meets. She has won two 50m backstroke gold medals in Fort Lauderdale and Sacramento.
