SwimSwam Pulse: 66.5% Think Women’s 50 Fly WR Is Going Down…And It Almost Did Friday

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which of the two remaining SCM super-suited world records would last the rest of the year, if any:

Question: With Kate Douglass breaking the 200 breast world record, only two super-suited individual SCM WRs remain. Will they survive 2024?

RESULTS

• M 200 free (1:39.37) will survive, not W 50 FLY – 49.9%
• Yes – both – 24.0%
• No – both will be broken – 16.6%
• W 50 fly (24.38) will survive, not M 200 FR – 9.5%

Since 2010, the super-suited world records from 2008 and especially 2009 have slowly but surely been falling off the books, but there are still 10 that remain.

Bringing the number down from 11 to 10 last week was Kate Douglass, who broke Rebecca Soni‘s longstanding mark in the SCM women’s 200 breaststroke at the Incheon stop of the 2024 World Cup. Douglass broke Soni’s 2009 record of 2:14.57 in 2:14.16, and then one-upped herself on Thursday in Singapore, clocking a stunning 2:12.72.

When Douglass broke Soni’s 200 breast world record, it left just two super-suited SCM world records standing: Therese Alshammar‘s mark in the women’s 50 fly, and Paul Biedermann‘s record in the men’s 200 free.

That brought us to the most recent SwimSwam Poll: Will either of those records survive the rest of 2024?

Nearly half of readers voted that they believe the men’s 200 free record will remain, but the women’s 50 fly will be going down. An additional 16.6% voted that they think both will be broken, meaning 66%+ are predicting the 50 fly record will fall.

That came after Douglass clocked 24.54 in the 50 fly at the Shanghai stop of the World Cup, making her a prime candidate to threaten the mark in Singapore. Taking dead aim at the record, Douglass nearly took it down, clocking 24.42 for the #2 swim of all-time and a new American Record.

Although Douglass didn’t quite snag the record at the World Cup, Gretchen Walsh will be favored to break it at the Short Course World Championships in December, given she’s been setting records seemingly every time she hits the water of late. In her first-ever SCM appearance a few weeks ago, Walsh set the world record in the 100 IM and added three more American Records.

Walsh was the only female swimmer entered in the 50 fly when the U.S. released its SC Worlds roster in October, but if either Douglass or Torri Huske end up swimming it, they’ll also have a shot at breaking the record.

Despite Biedermann’s record of 1:39.37 in the men’s 200 free only being seriously challenged twice, there are more than 26% that believe it will fall this year.

Yannick Agnel clocked 1:39.70 in 2012 at the same meet he set the 400 free world record, and then since then, the only performance under 1:40 was the 1:39.72 produced by Hwang Sunwoo at the 2022 SC Worlds.

This year, Hwang, Luke Hobson and Leon Marchand are among the top candidates to take a shot at the record, with Marchand and Hobson representing the two fastest swimmers ever in the SCY 200 free.

There was also 24% of people voting that both records will stay on the books, which, after Douglass’ near-miss in Singapore, could well hold true.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Where do you stand on dual meets and tech suits?

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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.