Katie Ledecky smashes her longstanding 800m freestyle world record
Katie Ledecky broke new ground once again on Saturday, shattering her own world record in the 800m freestyle with a time of 8min 4.12sec at the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale.
The 28-year-old American improved on the 8:04.79 mark she set at the 2016 Rio Olympics, notching her first long-course world record since 2018 and reaffirming her dominance in the distance freestyle events.
'I was really fired up after the 1,500m earlier this week,' said Ledecky, who opened the meet by posting the second-fastest 1,500m in history on Wednesday and followed it with the second-fastest 400m of her career on Thursday. Jillian Cox finished second in the 800m, more than 19 seconds back in 8:23.58, with Claire Weinstein third in 8:26.06.
Not a dry eye on deck 🥹#TYRProSeries pic.twitter.com/C7reYs10YW
Ledecky now owns the 10 fastest times ever recorded in the 800m freestyle. Since bursting onto the scene with Olympic gold in London at just 15, she has lost the event only once – a February 2024 defeat to Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh, whose 8:09.86 remains the second-fastest performance in history.
With her performance this week, Ledecky reminded the field that she remains the swimmer to beat heading into the US Olympic trials next month in Indianapolis and the world shampionships in Singapore in late July.
Earlier on Saturday, 22-year-old American Gretchen Walsh also made history, setting a world record of 55.09 seconds in the 100m butterfly preliminaries. The time bettered her own mark from last year's Olympic trials by nine hundredths of a second.
Walsh's standout meet also included a blistering 24.93 in the 50m butterfly on Friday, an American record and the second-fastest time ever recorded in the event. A double relay gold medallist at the Paris Olympics, Walsh is emerging as a serious contender in the sprint butterfly events, including the 50m fly, which will debut at the 2028 Olympics.
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