Ledecky Closes Pro Swim Series With 800 Free World Record
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - MAY 01: Katie Ledecky reacts after winning the 400m freestyle in 3 ... More minutes, 56.81 seconds at a Tyr Pro Series meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's her second-best time ever behind her 2016 Olympic swim of 3:56.46, which stood as the world record until 2022, on May 01, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by)
Katie Ledecky has done it again. Just a day after clocking the second-fastest 1500 freestyle of her career at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale (15:24.51), the 28-year-old followed up with her fastest 400 freestyle since the 2016 Rio Olympics. She posted a time of 3:56.81—the seventh-fastest in history and just shy of her lifetime best of 3:56.46. This swim now holds the record as the fastest 400 freestyle ever recorded by a woman on American soil.
Ledecky came from behind in the race, trailing three-time Olympic champion Summer McIntosh until the final stretch. The two were neck and neck at the last flip turn, but Ledecky pulled ahead with a strong final 50 meters to secure the win.
At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Australian Ariarne Titmus won the 400 freestyle with a time of 3:57.49, followed by Summer McIntosh in 3:58.37, and Katie Ledecky, who took bronze with a time of 4:00.86. That being said, Ledecky's performance at the Pro Swim Series would have been fast enough to win gold in Paris.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - MAY 03: Katie Ledecky sets a World Record in the Women's 800m Freestyle ... More Final at Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center on May 03, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by)
But that wasn't the only highlight of Ledecky's performance in Fort Lauderdale. She closed the meet by breaking her own world record in the 800 freestyle—a time that had stood since the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ledecky lowered the nine-year-old record from 8:04.79 to 8:04.12, a performance that reaffirmed she's still going strong at 28. Jillian Cox finished second in 8:23.58.
It was Ledecky's first world record in a long course event since 2018, when she set her lifetime best in the 1500 freestyle. Throughout her career, she has now broken 15 individual long course world records.
Ledecky currently holds the 10 fastest times in history in the 800 freestyle. The next closest performer is Canada's Summer McIntosh, who posted a personal best of 8:09.86 earlier in 2025. No other woman has ever broken the 8:10 barrier.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - MAY 03: Gretchen Walsh wins the Women's 100m Butterfly Final A with a ... More World Record at Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center on May 03, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by)
To top it off, Olympic gold medalist and recent 2025 NCAA champion Gretchen Walsh—fresh off helping the University of Virginia secure its fifth consecutive team title—lowered her own world record in the 100 butterfly, becoming the first woman to break 55 seconds.
Her previous world record was 55.18, set during the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials last June. In Fort Lauderdale, Walsh posted a 55.09 in the prelims lowering it to 54.60 in the finals. Walsh also holds the NCAA record in the 100 fly with a time of 46.97, set at the 2025 NCAA Championships, becoming the first woman to break 47 seconds in the event.
Ledecky expressed her excitement for Walsh's achievement. Ledecky's training partner, Bobby Finke, also had strong performances at the Pro Swim Series. Finke won both the 800 free and 1500 free, and finished first in the 400 IM, out-touching France's Leon Marchand, who holds the world record in that event.
Looking ahead, the U.S. National Championships, which will determine the team for the World Championships, are set to take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from June 3-7.
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