2025 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – Toronto
- October 23-25, 2025
- Toronto, Canada
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Recaps
Women’s 100 Backstroke — Finals
- World Record: 54.02 — Regan Smith, United States (2024 & 2025)
- World Junior Record: 55.75 — Bella Sims, United States (2022)
- World Cup Record: 54.02 — Regan Smith, United States (2025)
Triple Crown Contender: Regan Smith (USA)
Top 8 Finishers:
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 54.49
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.57
- Katharine Berkoff (USA) – 55.10
- Ingrid Wilm (CAN) – 56.05
- Kylie Masse (CAN) – 56.09
- Hannah Fredericks (AUS) – 56.84
- Rhyan White (USA) – 56.87
- Taylor Ruck (CAN) – 56.93
Kaylee McKeown threw down her second Australian Record in two days, taking the win in the 100 back tonight in a time of 54.49 to shave 0.07 seconds from her previous mark.
That also gives McKeown her second win of the week, after she took the win in the 50 back yesterday in a similarly nail-biting fashion to her win today. She finished 0.05 seconds ahead of Gretchen Walsh in that event, and was just 0.08 seconds ahead of Regan Smith on the touch tonight.
The longtime rivals traded the lead through the first 75 meters tonight, with McKeown out in a blistering 12.72, 0.34 seconds faster than Smith. Smith clawed back that time over the second 25, before taking three-tenths out of the Australian on the third length.
McKeown roared home in 13.89 on the final 25 to outsplit Smith by nearly four-tenths of a second, giving herself the win and preventing Smith winning the Triple Crown in the event. Smith had taken gold in both Carmel and Westmont, matching her own World Record in the event at the second of those.
Those wins were notable for another reason. They were the first individual finals in which Smith had gotten the better of McKeown since their first senior international matchup back in 2019, when Smith set a new 200 back World Record and took gold.
McKeown edged under her previous Australian mark by less than a tenth tonight, She was out two-tenths faster through the first 50, fell back to her previous pace on the third 25, and then came home a tenth faster.
Split Comparison
| 2024 – Australian Short Course Championships | 2025 – World Cup, Toronto Stop | |
| 50 | 12.82 | 12.72 |
| 100 | 26.69 (13.87) | 26.48 (13.76) |
| 150 | 40.59 (13.90) | 40.60 (14.12) |
| 200 | 54.56 (13.97) | 54.49 (13.89) |
She notched the 5th-fastest swim in history tonight. Between the pair of McKeown and Smith, they own all of the top eight and ten of the top 12 times in history.
Top 12 Women’s SCM 100 Backstroke Performances All-Time
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.02, 2024 & 2025
- –
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.27, 2024
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.41, 2024
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 54.49, 2025
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.55, 2024
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 54.56, 2024
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.57, 2025
- Minna Atherton (AUS) & Gretchen Walsh (USA) – 54.89, 2019 & 2024
- –
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.89, 2024
- Regan Smith (USA) – 54.92 , 2025
McKeown is now two-for-two so far in Toronto, and has the 200 back to swim tomorrow. She set a new World Record in the event at the last stop, getting the touch over Smith by just 0.04 seconds in a thrilling race, and has the chance to win the Triple Crown after also winning at the first stop in Carmel. After Smith saw her Triple Crown hopes in this 100 back dashed tonight, though, she may well be out for revenge tomorrow evening.
This had to be said . I have always had amazing respect for Smith and in the second world cup she beat Kaylee by around one second and I was so impressed that I made a point to watch the race .
So my initial response was that I was mortified . It was backstroke race and it appeared to me that Smith was cheating by utilising her underwater.
Although after thinking about it , Smith deserved the win and she did what she needed to win so I did recover. However I cant really respect short course because the best swimmer isn’t necessarily the best swimmer.
World swimming needs to set guidelines. Swimmers should be penalised… Read more »
Ramblings full rage bait and fake news.
“Yet Alex is an individual Olympic Gold medallist”
WTH are you talking about?
Alex Walsh went to two Olympics (Tokyo and Paris), and she only has ONE Olympic medal: 200 IM silver from Tokyo.
Queen Kaylee
↑↑↓↓←→←→BA
Haha love this reference
I don’t get it 🙁
It’s the Konami Code. Basically a really popular cheat code sequence that has appeared in hundreds of games.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami_Code
One thing about these two is they WILL put on a show!!!
Also, Kaylee quote from her podcast with Mel in September:
“Tried to do World Cups. I just wasn’t mentally ready for that. Came home within I think four days or something like that. So it’s a bit of a running joke going around, seeing if I’m going to last the whole World Cups tour this year. Fingers crossed I will.”
I think saying she’s absolutely killing it this round would be an understatement.
Absoloute GOAT of women’s backstroke. Reagan is absolutely amazing as well.
2 PBs during the final stop is a super result, plus the WR in a third event at the last stop.
Ended up being a very fine series for Kaylee, with one more event to go.
I thought Regan might get some confidence after finally getting some individual wins but this race just showed how much faster Kaylee is over the water
The speed in that last 10m was incredible
Such determination 💪
Yes, but Kaylee’s underwaters were better than they were over the first two swims, but like you said, she is so much faster on top of the water
I don’t understand why some people insisted that Regan Smith is unstoppable:
https://swimswam.com/regan-smith-swims-new-american-record-with-157-91-200-backstroke/
using a silver medal result to make that claim is something else
If Regan is unstoppable what is Kaylee?
She’s the immovable object… in the way, and getting the better of the “unstoppable force”