Cumulatively, over the 3 stops of the 2024 World Cup circuit, Kate Douglass and Regan Smith broke 5 worlds records, 11 American records, and earned over $330,000. And they did it all for the plot.
Even though the duo planned to attend the World Cup together months in advance, neither had many expectations going into the series after taking substantial time out of the pool following the Olympic Games in Paris. Both Smith and Douglass’ number one priority was enjoying their time together and rolling with whatever was thrown their way, which ended up being quite a lot.
However, the Olympic champions took what came to them in stride, improving at each of the three stops and ending the series as the top two performers and money earners.
I actually like that their politics may be a bit different from one another. It’s nice to see friendship based on what’s in common rather than hatred based on what’s different.
I doubt they’d ever publicly admit it, but I have to imagine Regan and Kate are reading these comments. I wonder how they feel about the majority of these comments being focused on their supposed political leanings rather than their amazing accomplishments at the World Cup.
I’m sure they have their feelings, but they shouldn’t be surprised. They live in the world, and they live in the US. It’s an election year in a bitterly divided country, and an Olympic year. People are eager to see what “side” their favorite athletes and celebs and public figures are on. They’ve chosen a profession that, particularly now, is public facing. They have to be intentional about how they interact with social media, and they’ve made choices that are now being scrutinized.
I find it fascinating that some Americans are still surprised/obsessed with finding out people are Trump supporters in 2024. Literally HALF of your country supports Trump. This is who your citizens are… why on Earth is this breaking news?
Pretty much. Trump’s election was not about him as a person, it was about the wokeness taking over the world, which everyone is afraid to comment publicly.
umm okay for a non politics comment: I really hope Regan busts out a crazy 200 fly at short course worlds, her SCY and LCM times were so good that I was kinda disappointed that there wasn’t a WR challenge time at the World Cup
To be fair, the double she had was brutal. A 200 fly mere minutes after ripping a 50 back. Should be faster at SCM Worlds.
There’s about 20 other articles talking about their accomplishments. You’d have to be a narcissist to get upset that not every single article just had positive comments about your performance.
Damn Regan voted Trump? Sad days. Great interview though.
but Kate voted Harris!
College graduate.
That can actually be a pretty important factor in all this. The Andrews, McIntoshes, and Regan have all “gone pro” without college (yet to be seen for Summer but doesn’t look very likely) and support Trump. Then the UVA girls, Ledecky, Huske, etc. – all either current or future college graduates – are Democrats.
wait what’s going on with McIntosh
Not McIntosh herself. But both her parents are very right-wing apparently in their following. Her dad especially follows Elon Musk, Trump, Caitlyn Jenner, Tucker Carlson, etc. I’m not sure how to link the photos (which btw credit to Twitter), so apologies if it doesn’t come out right.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcEH491aAAA5EwQ?format=png&name=small
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcEIBl5bkAA2Fhl?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcEJOyibcAAQFLE?format=jpg&name=medium
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcEJOyfboAA2tkC?format=jpg&name=medium
Not sure that it has anything to do with right or left wing because they’re Canadian. Canadians that get it are disturbed by increasing gov’t controls. We can’t even watch many things on social media because they can’t be posted in Canada even if they’re from Canadian sources.
As a Canadian…what? If you follow all those people on Twitter, you’re either right wing or a glutton for punishment.
The social media “controls” are because the social media companies refused to abide by our laws about fair compensation for news content.
Not sure if my last comment is going to get approved. But so far, it’s not Summer herself. But both her parents follow very right wing figures (mostly her dad) on Twitter.
Quick! Call the cops!
That is why digital first amendment is urgently needed for all countries.
College graduates vs college dropouts lol
I didn’t vote for Trump but this kind of analysis makes me wish I could go back and drop out of college.
In hindsight, Stanford was a comically bad fit for Regan. Not just the swimming, but the overall school and campus vibe.
To everyone here who’s saying Regan is a Trump supporter, are you basing that off a single post she liked on Instagram, or is there more evidence?
I didn’t know that either until reading the comments, and as a trans swimmer and fan of hers, I was not happy to find out. I’m glad they have a great friendship though, maybe if they spend more time together Kate will be a good influence on her.
Key Quote: Todd just does what ever Anthony Nesty does.
A SCM college meet was a great idea prior to the Short Course World Championships. It should transpire more often.
I love the USA swimming duos..
Hinds-Smoliga, Smith-Douglass
How can you not love these two? One gets famously nervous, one is Dr. Chill. Great orientation for elite swimmers to be! Way to go Coleman.
They definitely help each other so much. I figure one of the main reasons both of them did so well at the WC is that they were together and were able to balance each other out tremendously.
Another fantastic interview by Coleman. I really think Regan Smith and Kate Douglass should do a podcast.
Kate hates Trump, but Regan obviously loves him. Future conflict ahead?
Weird comment, but good friends can still be friends despite political views. You know, like most people should do.
I couldn’t be friends with someone whose values differed so dramatically from mine and I know a lot of people feel the same way.
Like, meaningful friends. Not just superficial, get along fine in work/team atmosphere type of friends.
That’s sad.
Why? I can’t imagine having a gay kid and then having a friend who is homophobic. Or having a friend who is racist when you’re an anti-racist. Like…awkward.
These days so many of us are Jussie Smollett in our own minds. When perceived victimhood is treated as earned virtue, that’s how things end up.
Cringe
Where did you get the indication that Regan loves Trump?
How do you know she loves him?
what is this based off of? I can assume that Regan is at least a mild Trump supporter but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything about Kate’s political views
On Instagram Kate recently shared the “One day I hope women have the same rights as guns” post that was going around.
Not everyone fits into a neat political box, but sharing that after election day seems like a pretty strong indicator of which candidate she did not support.
Did Regan say that? Isn’t that more of a criticism towards the republicans? And how do we know that Kate hates trump? Spill plz, I wanna know!
I should have been more clear – that was a KD story share.
oh cool, must’ve missed that
I’m really curious what evidence we have that Regan is a “mild Trump supporter.” Her gay teammates seem to be comfortable around her and feel supported by her (eg Nick Albiero and Erica Sullivan, at least) and she also seems to be one of the least religious swimmers on the women’s side.
She liked a Riley Gaines post on instagram saying “there is no scenario and nothing Trump could ever do that would convince me not to vote for him”. To a normal person, a statement like that is horrifying
You can be a Trump supporter or even vote Republican and still be an LGBT+ ally or be unreligious. Not that hard to understand.
actually by voting for Trump you are indirectly NOT an ally for the LGBT+ community – that shouldn’t be hard to understand..
I agree you can be conservative or a republican and still be an LGBT ally.
However, Trump specifically campaigned on banning gender affirming healthcare and spread lies that schools were forcing children to transition. Voting for that is not compatible with being an ally.
she follows r*ley g*ines and in particular liked this post https://www.instagram.com/p/C9YgnT2urQz/
Oh fun. So did Alex Shackell. And — unsurprisingly— BH. So this is disappointing. Well I’m glad that at least Ledecky, Douglass, Lilly King, Kieran Smith, and Bobby Finke (and probably Huske) are at least not similarly aligned.
If the Shackells are MAGA, it’s not at all surprising that they are all de-committing from Cal. Honestly, it surprises me that they even considered it in the first place.
Yuck. Riley Gaines needs to find something else to do.
Funny she removed the like, but it definitely was there per the screenshot that’s been going around. Also, people’s following lists (on Insta and Twitter) are also really relevant … so if Regan really did “accidentally” like it, the fact she still follows her is a big red flag.
So if she removed it that means she’s seen people were talking about it here and/or on twitter lol
Haha, probably saw it going around on Twitter (didn’t know swimmers looked at swimtwt) because I went to check if it was still liked in mid-September and the like was gone.
hm it’s still there for me
I must not have checked properly then, sorry.
People pay close attention to Instagram “likes.” I believe she’s liked a Trump-related Riley Gaines post and at least one other pro-Trump post. She was also on Jake Paul’s podcast who is very aligned with Trump. Also, you do not have to be religious to support Trump.