LOS ANGELES, United States, Oct 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - American Kate Douglass set a 100m freestyle short course world record and Australian Kaylee McKeown broke the 200m backstroke world mark on Sunday at the World Cup in Westmont, Illinois.

Douglass, the reigning Olympic 200m breaststroke champion, won the 100 free final in 50.19 seconds, breaking the old mark of 50.25 set by Aussie Cate Campbell in Adelaide on October 26, 2017.

Aussie Mollie O'Callaghan was second to Douglass in 51.44 with the Netherlands' Marrit Steenbergen third, another 0.12 off the pace.

Douglass erased the second-oldest world record in 25-meter short course competition, different from the Olympic-style 50m pool events.

She also holds short course world records in the 200 breast and 200 individual medley.

McKeown, who swept 100 and 200 back gold at the Paris and Tokyo Olympics, won the 200 back in 1:57.87 to break the short course world record of 1:58.04 set by American Regan Smith last December in Budapest.

Smith finished second to McKeown in the final despite going under her former world mark, taking the runner-up spot in 1:57.91.

Australia's Lani Pallister won the 1,500 free in 15:13.83, the second-fastest women's short course time in history behind the world record of 15:08.24 set by American Katie Ledecky in 2022 at Toronto, where next week's concluding World Cup races will be contested.