Mollie O'Callaghan stuns the swimming world by slicing 0.51 off 200m short course freestyle world record
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Mollie O'Callaghan has set an astonishing new mark in the 200m freestyle, smashing the short course world record at the World Cup in Westmont, Illinois on Sunday morning (AEDT).
The Olympic champion sliced 0.51 of a second off the previous mark — held by Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey since the 2021 World Short Course Championships — to touch the wall in a record time of 1:49.77.
O'Callaghan, 21, had threatened to put the world record under threat at the World Cup, given she produced a time of 1:50.77 to win the event in a meet last week in Carmel — the third fastest swim of all-time.
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Only Haughey and Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom had ever recorded faster times.
The biggest difference between the swim in Westmont and Carmel was O'Callaghan's start, although all four of her splits at the 50m mark were faster than last week's race.
"I had a great support team behind me and I had to trust my gut at the end of the day," O'Callaghan told reporters after the race.
Mollie O'Callaghan of Team Australia in action. Getty
"I'm thankful for them because, truly, I wouldn't be here without them.
"I was so nervous all day ... but I knew I was capable of doing that swim."
The 1:49.77 result makes O'Callaghan the first woman to set a time under 1:50 flat in the 200m short-course event.
Australian teammate Lani Pallister finished second in the final with a time of 1:52.06.
O'Callaghan was not the only athlete to cause a world record to fall, with America's Regan Smith smashing the 100m backstroke record.
Smith set the World Cup record in the 200m butterfly on Saturday (Australian time) before adding a world record to her list of achievements for the week.
The American clocked a time of 54.02 to defeat Australia's Kaylee McKeown, who touched the wall in 55.04.
"The crowd has been really amped up tonight," Smith said.
"There's nothing better than racing at home. This is just a small taste of what Los Angeles [2028] is going to be like."