Kate Douglass had a Saturday for the history books. The 24-year-old American swimmer set a world record in the 50 meter freestyle in the morning heats at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, touching in 23.49, shaving 0.06 off the mark set by her teammate and friendly rival Gretchen Walsh in Rome in June.
Then she came back for the final that evening and absolutely obliterated it.
She swam 23.19 in the final, three-tenths of a second faster than her own morning world record, which she had just set hours earlier.
Walsh finished second in 23.74. The commentators were speechless. It was one of the most sensational swims of the decade.
The backstory is one of the summer's great sub-plots. Douglass and Walsh have been trading the world record like a game of ping-pong since June, Douglass set it at 23.59 in Indianapolis on June 19, Walsh took it back at 23.55 in Rome nine days later, Douglass reclaimed it at 23.49 Saturday morning and then made the whole argument moot by going 23.19 that night.
Twenty-five minutes after winning the 50 free final, still wearing her swim cap, Douglass returned to the pool and raced the 200 meter breaststroke. She finished second. Just another Saturday.