Doha Swimming Championship Preview: Kate Douglass Dominant as She Looks to Recreate Fukuoka Performance Before Olympics

The 2024 World Swimming Championships are currently underway in the Arabian jewel of Doha, Qatar. This competition is a pivotal event in the Olympic year 2024. It has attracted a record number of athletes, with over 2,600 participants from 201 countries. However, despite the large participation and the significance it holds, there are some notable absences among the top swimmers.

Only seven out of the 22 individual gold medalists from the previous 20th edition of the championships, which were in Fukuoka, are competing to defend their titles this year. This is due to the Paris 2024 Olympics being just five months away. But among the array of stars in Doha, Kate Douglass is present to defend her 2023 title and recreate the epic spectacle.

The Fukuoka magic of Kate Douglass

A post on X by the NBC Olympics & Paralympics account shared an exciting snippet of Kate Douglass’s 200-meter individual medley from the 2023 World Aquatics Championships that earned her a gold medal. The post read, “Watch her on the world stage again starting this Sunday on @peacock. #AQUADoha2024.” At the women’s 200-meter individual medley event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, a thrilling showdown broke out in the heart of Japan. Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, both from the same university team in Virginia, were contenders at the intense finale.

As the 200-meter race began, Alex Walsh took the lead early on and maintained her lead throughout the race until the finale. But Kate Douglass didn’t give up. She pushed herself hard, especially in the last stretch of the pool, and in an incredibly close finish, Kate Douglass surged past Walsh. Douglass touched the wall first, winning the gold medal for the USA, while Alex Walsh came in second, securing silver for the USA. Kate Douglass made a splash not only during this race but also during the women’s 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 2023 Fukuoka championships, where she earned another gold in Japan. And now she plans to do the same in the Doha Swimming Championships in 2024.

Her plan for the Doha Swimming Championship

Initially, Kate Douglass was planning to compete in six events to prepare for the Olympics in Paris and decided to scale back her schedule for the 2024 Doha Swimming Championship. However, Kate Douglass has entered several swimming events at Doha 2024, including the 200 IM,  200 breaststroke, 50 and 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 50 butterfly. Kate Douglass is enthusiastic about competing and defending her title as the women’s 200-meter individual medley world champion this year.

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She even told Olympics.com, “Obviously the field isn’t as competitive as it was last summer, but I think it’ll still be a great race, and I’m just excited to see where I’m at with that race right now this season.” She is set to grace the swimming events, which will take place from February 11th to February 18th, and all eyes will be on Kate once more at the women’s 200-meter medley scheduled for February 12th, 2024. Will she be able to defend her 2023 World Championship title in 2024 as well? Comment below!

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