Kate Douglass confirmed on the Olympics.com podcast recently that she plans to race in 2028 at the Los Angeles Olympics, and that she “definitely” wants to return to the 200 IM.
Swim Updates on X posted about the podcast yesterday, highlighting the fact that with Douglass racing the event, she opens the door to a “rematch” with Summer McIntosh on U.S. soil.
Kate Douglass confirms plans to race at the LA Olympics and “definitely” return to the 200 IM — after she skipped the event this year and previously hinted at retirement — opening the door to a potential rematch with newly minted WR Holder Summer McIntosh on American soil. pic.twitter.com/e4UOI8Oobk
— Swim Updates (@swimupdates) July 11, 2025
During the interview, Douglass talked about how she took a short break after the Olympics, and decided to shift her focus this year to events she hasn’t competed internationally, particularly the 100 breaststroke and the 50 freestyle.
At the U.S. Trials last month, she finished first in the event, qualifying for the Worlds team and beating World Record holder Lilly King in the process.
Her 50 free was not quite as successful, with her finishing 3rd behind UVA teammate Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske.
She mentioned how she had taken a break from the 200 IM because it “usually isn’t [her] favorite event to race” mentioning how she hasn’t done a lot of IM training this year. She went on to say that she will definitely get back to it in the future.
She also confirmed that LA 2028 is her goal and where she sees herself ending her swimming career, but if she is going to make it there, it’s important that she tries new things and “chills” out so she doesn’t burn herself out.
This comes after she has been on the fence about returning, saying in November of 2023, that she saw retirement in the “near future” and that she was “looking forward to it.”
She walked that statement back a little bit in October of last year, when she said on a podcast that there was a “50/50” chance she made it to LA 2028.
Douglass is entered in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 50 butterfly at the 2025 World Championships later this month.
Rather than argue about whether she can or not, I’m curious HOW Kate could improve her LC backstroke. It’s an obvious opportunity where she doesn’t have a turn and UW to mitigate it, but what does she do in her stroke that could improve over the 50-meter length?
Yeah people keep saying “all Kate has to do is improve her backstroke” like it’s so easy… if it was that easy it would have happened already, she’s been swimming it for 4 years…. I’m not saying there isn’t a way but she just hasn’t figured it out yet.
One way is to transfer train and race backstroke 100 and 200 for tempo and pace. For 200 IM 100 back especially..
Rahhhh 🦅 Christmas came early
Why does everyone keep talking about swimming events taking place on “home soil” or “US soil.” They take place in water, for crying out loud. I’d like to see a “swimming” event taking place in or on…soil!
This, from Britannica: “soil, the biologically active, porous medium that has developed in the uppermost layer of Earth’s crust. Soil is one of the principal substrata of life on Earth, serving as a reservoir of water and nutrients, as a medium for the filtration and breakdown of injurious wastes, and as a participant in the cycling of carbon and other elements through the global ecosystem”
A reservoir of water — not water itself.
I have spoken.
The pool sits on soil.
I still kind of want to see a 200 fly swam literally on soil though…
🇺🇸 thanks you
Girl wanted to stay swole
A 1:48.3 should easily translate into a 2:04.9
No hiding from backstroke in long course
You Are thinking about this Wrong. Grinchen welshg goes 20.0 from A 50 free. Breaststroke is slower than Free so add a fudge factor. Best time possible is 85 seconds Because 4 50s. So 1:85 is best possible easily. Hope this Helps.
Randy
Douglass announcing that she’s happy to swim for 200 IM 🥈 in LA.
She can beat Summer
backstroke too weak and mcintosh has improved even more on freestyle
If she improves her backstroke then Summer’s in trouble. Kate’s breaststroke is way too superior than Summer’s.
Douglas has yet to show gains in 1 leg without the next leg suffering as a consequence unlike Summer.
Except that Kate Douglas hasn’t shown she improved her backstroke, while Summer has shown she’s improved her back, fly, breast, and free.
*Douglass
If a swimmer wants to improve their backstroke race 100 or 200 back in meets..Summer does. Also Summers 200 breast time is really good and getting faster
I love the US fans take that all Kate has to do to beat Summer is improve her backstroke. In the same breath we hear that Ariarne can’t beat Summer anymore because Summer is much younger and has more improvement. Ariarne and Kate are only 1 year apart. If 1 of them can get ahead of Summer, the other can as well. Although it is extremely unlikely that both will.
.36 and KD was closing, chill.
Well, Kate didn’t close fast enough and no one was catching Summer’s sprint on that last 50m. Kate was lucky to bypass Alex, tbh. Summer was breathing on opposite side to her competitors, she couldn’t even see them and still won.
When it mattered the most Summer recorded her best breast leg split as opposed to Douglass who recorded one of her worst back leg split.
KD has three years to improve her backstroke and stamina if she’s committed to winning. She blows SM away in three out of four individual 50s.
I’m a huge fan of both. But nobody in this thread is focusing on Summer’s turns and underwaters. By all accounts she is more committed to improving them than Douglass is committed or able to fix her backstroke.
Also, Summer at 18 is not nearly as physically strong as she’ll eventually be. Gretchen improved long course once the maturity and weight training kicked in.
It’s scary what Summer has already done, given no underwaters or shoulders.
Good point
LOL
You must have heard the saying “ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.
Btw, McIntosh swam 29.95 on her 50 freestyle wr split so I wouldn’t assume that Kate has an advantage over Summer in the freestyle especially when it’s the final 50 of a 200 meter race.
50’s in strokes not as important as 100’s in stroke for 200 IM. Tempo for IM and stroke counts are real important. Developed off of 100’s..
and Summers 200 metre speed endurance blows KD (and almost all others) away.
Of course she can. Summer can beat her too. It’s called racing.
Is that… bad? Getting on the podium at a home Olympics would be an unforgettable experience
Will be the same for Titmus in the 400 free.
Everyone counts Titmus out. Then she wins gold.
who counted her out before Paris? she going in as the favorite for 400 free.
everyone other than a few Australians counted her out until the WC when she got her WR back.
brutal but true
Are we still playing this game?
It’s like you woke up and said outloud, “yes… yes I believe I can make one of the most ignorant comments on SwimSwam today”