Katie Ledecky has all week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
One day after having posted the second female time of 1500 meters in history, the Olympic gold medalist of nine times posted its best swim in nine years at the 400 meter freestyle, 3: 56.81 during the meeting of the Tire Pro series. It was his first major appearance since the Paris Olympic Games last year.
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Significantly, she did it with a return victory in the last round of the final, going beyond Summer McIntosh, the Canadian who broke out in Paris.
Ledecky’s time is a new American record, the seventh best moment in history and its second best, behind only one 3: 56.46, the unique world record which earned it the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The impressive victory on Thursday was an achievement that she did not see coming, via NBC Sports:
“I don’t know if I thought I was going to be at 3:56,” said Ledecky on Peacock.
The race was a partial revenge in one of the most disappointing events in the Paris program in Ledecky. Ledecky took bronze and McIntosh took the money in the 400 meters behind the winner of the gold medal Ariarne Titmus, who led from wire. Ledecky’s time would have won the gold medal in Paris (Titmus swam a 3: 57.49), although in another pool with different conditions.
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Titmus, the world record holder in the event, said that it would ensure most of the major events this year, setting up a confrontation between Ledecky and McIntosh at the World Championships in Singapore later this year.
With victories in the 1500 meters and 400 meters freestyle already in hand, LEDECKY should compete both at the 200 meter freestyle and at 400 meters an individual mixture on Friday. None of the two events is a specialty for her, even if she remains the 800 meter freestyle in the program.
