Kate Douglass wins her fourth medal at 2023 World Aquatics Championship

US swimmer Kate Douglass won her fourth medal at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. On Friday, the 21-year-old competed in the 200m breaststroke final, where she secured a silver medal.

Douglass' recent performances at the world championship continue to uphold her reputation as a leading talent in the world of swimming. After topping events like the mixed 4x100 medley relay, 4x100 freestyle relay, and 200 individual medley, she also achieved the second position in the 200m breaststroke event. Her timing in the 200m breaststroke was 2:21.23s.

The young swimmer competed against ace swimmers like Tatjana Schoenmaker and Tes Schouten, who came first and third in the championship, respectively. Gold medallist Schoenmaker outshone defending champion Lilly King with her timing of 2:20.80s, just 0.43s ahead of Douglass.

The news of her fourth medal was reported by the official page of USA Swimming. Its caption read:

“Kate Douglass wins her FOURTH medal of #AQUAFukuoka23 in the 200 breast with a 2:21.23.”

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Kate Douglass’ earlier performances at the 2023 World Aquatics Championship

Kate Douglass

The University of Virginia swimmer secured a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100 medley relay event. Then, she achieved the second position in the 4x100 freestyle relay event.

However, the 200 individual medley turned out to be a game changer for the swimmer as won the gold with a stunning timing of 2:07.17s.

However, amidst Douglass’ winning spree at the world championship, she also faced a low point. On the same day when she won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke, Douglass landed in the fourth position in the 100m freestyle event.

With a time frame of 52:18s, she happened to finish strong on the second 50 to pass Olympic champion Emma McKeon, edging her out by just two-hundredths of a second to secure fourth place.

Nevertheless, as Kate Douglass secured a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke, she expressed what went through her mind after her performance in the 100m freestyle. In an interview with NBC Sports, the swimmer said:

“I was very happy with my 100 free swim, that was a good time for me, but I think getting fourth and just missing the podium kind of fueled me going into the breaststroke,” Douglass added.

She added:

“I really wanted to get a medal there.”

This, she indeed did, in a great example of utilising a failure as a stepping stone for success.