Smith Conquers Self-Doubt to Regain Backstroke World Record 

Regan Smith of the United States looks on after setting a world record in the Women's 100m backstroke final on Day Four of the 2024 US Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 18, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images/AFP)
Regan Smith of the United States looks on after setting a world record in the Women's 100m backstroke final on Day Four of the 2024 US Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 18, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Smith Conquers Self-Doubt to Regain Backstroke World Record 

Regan Smith of the United States looks on after setting a world record in the Women's 100m backstroke final on Day Four of the 2024 US Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 18, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images/AFP)
Regan Smith of the United States looks on after setting a world record in the Women's 100m backstroke final on Day Four of the 2024 US Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 18, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images/AFP)

Regan Smith was so riddled with self-doubt the American thought her days of breaking backstroke records were gone for good, but after learning to tame her emotions she is once again on top of the world.

Smith said on Tuesday that the newfound sense of belief in herself was key to regaining a 100m backstroke world record she set in 2019 as a 17-year-old.

"It's confidence all the way," she told reporters after clocking a sizzling 57.13 at the US Olympic trials to slash 0.2 seconds off Australian Kaylee McKeown's mark.

"I've always had it physically. I've always had like a God-given natural ability to swim backstroke but I just never believed in myself ever and that's always going to be a work-in-progress."

In contrast to the highs of setting a world record in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Smith said her lowest point came at trails for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

"I just didn't want to be there. I wasn't excited. I had no faith in myself," she said.

"I wanted other people to do it because I thought that they were going to be better at doing it than I was."

That all began to change when she started working with a sports psychologist in October last year. The 22-year-old said she has seen steady improvement in her mental health and performances ever since.

"What I really struggle with is separating emotion from logic, and I think the best of the best, they are able to stay logical in the hardest times," she said.

"Because when logic goes out the door and emotion comes in, that's when you choke, and I did that over and over because I just let my emotions take over."

Despite her struggles she still managed to pick up three Olympic medals in Tokyo.

Now brimming with confidence, Smith said she is eager for the showdown with McKeown in Paris where she believes she can break her own record and get her hands on her first Olympic gold medal.

"I'm not going to sell myself short, absolutely not," she said.

"That was an amazing race but it wasn't a perfect race. I know there's things that I can clean up and do better, and I'm going to work towards that."



Wimbledon Expansion Plan Set to Proceed after High Court Ruling

FILED - 29 June 2022, United Kingdom, London: Raindrops and the tournament logo can be seen on an umbrella during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa
FILED - 29 June 2022, United Kingdom, London: Raindrops and the tournament logo can be seen on an umbrella during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa
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Wimbledon Expansion Plan Set to Proceed after High Court Ruling

FILED - 29 June 2022, United Kingdom, London: Raindrops and the tournament logo can be seen on an umbrella during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa
FILED - 29 June 2022, United Kingdom, London: Raindrops and the tournament logo can be seen on an umbrella during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa

Wimbledon's controversial expansion plan is set to go ahead after a legal challenge against the decision to approve the proposal was dismissed by a High Court judge on Monday.

The 'Save Wimbledon Park' campaign group took action against the Greater London Authority's decision last year to grant a planning permission that would almost triple the size of the site for the grass-court Grand Slam.

The proposals would see the construction of 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the grounds of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club, which would allow it to host All England Club qualifiers on site instead of across south London at Roehampton.

The campaign group's barristers told the High Court earlier this month that the decision to approve the plans was "irrational" and should be quashed, as Wimbledon Park was covered by restrictions on how it could be used.

But Wimbledon chiefs defended the challenge, with the court told that the decision was a "planning judgement properly exercised" and that the restrictions were not "material".

In a ruling on Monday, Justice Saini dismissed the challenge, AFP reported.

"In short, the defendant's decision on the relevance of deliverability, applying to both the statutory trust and the restrictive covenants, was a planning judgement rationally exercised and having regard to appropriate and relevant factors," he said.

Planning permission for the scheme was initially granted by Jules Pipe, London's deputy mayor for planning, who said that the proposals "would facilitate very significant benefits" which "clearly outweigh the harm".

Following Monday's High Court ruling, the campaign group said it had been "advised that it should" seek to challenge the decision.

"SWP is not taking this step lightly but believes that the GLA did make a significant legal error in the way it dealt with the special legal status of the park," a statement said.

The latest edition of Wimbledon concluded on July 13, with Jannik Sinner winning the men's title and Iga Swiatek lifting the women's trophy.