Katie Ledecky blasts past 9yo world record in ominous display

Source : ABC NEWS

Think Katie Ledecky might be done after making history in Paris? Think again.

Almost 13 years after winning her first Olympic title, arguably the greatest swimmer in history has proven she is still getting better.

The 28-year-old legend has tuned up for July’s 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with a series of blistering swims in Florida this week, underlining her status as one of the all-time greats of the sport and setting down a marker to her rivals.

Ledecky shattered her near-nine-year-old world record in the 800m freestyle by over half a second, swimming 8 minutes, 4.12 seconds at the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale.

It bettered her previous mark of 8:04.79 that she set at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

It was the first world record Ledecky has set in a long-course pool since 2018, and the 15th she has set in her career.

Ledecky was clearly delighted with the performance, slapping her hands against the water and screaming in joy as the Fort Lauderdale crowd rose to salute their hero.

Winning an 800m race is not unusual for Ledecky.

She has won four-straight Olympic Games gold medals in the distance and six-straight World Championship titles dating back to 2013, recording the 10 fastest times by a woman in history.

Since she was 15 at the London 2012 Olympics, Ledecky has only lost over the distance once — in 2024 to Summer McIntosh.

McIntosh did not compete in the event at the Paris Olympics due to scheduling issues, as the multi-threat Canadian teen claimed gold medals in the 200m medley, 400m medley and 200m butterfly — and a silver in the hotly contested 400m behind Ariarne Titmus — instead.

Titmus was absent from the recent Australian National Championships in Brisbane, where Lani Palister won 800m gold in 8:18.71.

In total, Ledecky has won a record nine Olympic gold medals and record 16 individual gold medals (21 including relays) at World Championships.

The living legend of American swimming had a superb week in Florida as she gears up for the US World Championship trials in Indianapolis next month.

She recorded her second-fastest 400m freestyle time on Thursday with a 3:56.81 — her best in nine years and the seventh-fastest of anyone in history.

In doing so, she beat Canadian phenom — and likely successor to her crown as North America’s biggest star — McIntosh to gold.

With McIntosh turning under Titmus’s world record pace at the 300m point and leading Ledecky by 0.85 seconds, the American powered home in the final 100 metres to claim victory.

“I don’t know if I ever thought I was gonna be [able to swim] a 3:56 again,” an emotional Ledecky told NBC Sports.

“It just wasn’t even in my head for tonight, for sure.”

Titmus’s world record mark of 3:55.38 from the 2023 World Championships remains intact — for now.

Ledecky had kicked off the meet with the second-fastest 1,500m freestyle time in history on Wednesday, swimming 15:24.51.

She is also the two-time defending Olympic 1,500m champion and is the only woman to have ever won a gold in the event since its introduction in Tokyo in 2021.

Ledecky has won five of the last six races over that distance at the World Championships, only missing out in 2019 when she withdrew due to illness.

At the recent Australian Swimming Championships last month, Mo Johnson won the 1,500 metres freestyle in 16:02.59.

It was not just Ledecky who was laying down markers in Florida.

Gretchen Walsh twice broke the 100m butterfly world record, swimming 55.09 in the heats before smashing that time with a blistering 54.60 in the finals.

Walsh also swam 24.93 in the 50m butterfly on Friday, the second-fastest time in history behind Swedish three-time Olympic champion Sarah Sjöström.

“Definitely room to get better,” Walsh told NBC.

“I think the second woman to ever be under 25 is a pretty cool stat. Definitely had my eye set on that.”

The Australian World Championship trials take place in Adelaide in June.