23.59 seconds is the new world record. Douglass posted the time during a competition in Indianapolis late Friday night, local time in Sweden.
With that, she broke Sarah Sjöström's previous record, which the Swede set at the World Championships in Japan in 2023, by two hundredths of a second.
"I'm still in shock. I don't know what to say," Kate Douglass told American media after the race.
Later this summer, Sarah Sjöström will make a championship comeback at the European Championships in Paris after becoming a mother in August 2025. It will be her first championship since winning double Olympic gold in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle at Paris 2024.
