Before Leaving Nationals, Katie Ledecky Sets Personal Best in 200 Individual Medley
Before leaving Southern California and the United States National Championships, Katie Ledecky used Saturday’s time-trials session to register a personal-best time in the 200-meter individual medley. Following the morning prelim session at the William Woollett Aquatic Center, Ledecky posted a time of 2:12.74. The performance sliced more than a second off Ledecky’s previous best in the event, a 2:14.36 from the 2016 campaign.
The 25-year-old Olympic legend went out in 28.77 for the butterfly leg and made the turn at the midway point in 1:01.83, following a 33.06 split for the backstroke. Ledecky covered the breaststroke in 40.43 and turned for home in 1:42.26. She split 30.48 for the freestyle leg. Earlier in the week, Ledecky had medley success in the 400-meter distance, as she won the national title in the 400 IM behind a time of 4:35.77.
In addition to winning the 400 medley at Nationals, she added victories in the 200 freestyle and 800 freestyle. In the 800 free, she now owns the 28-fastest times in history.
During an interview as part of NBC’s Olympic Channel coverage, Ledecky indicated she will take a brief break and recharge before returning to training. Once she gets back in the pool, there will be less than two years until the 2024 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis and Olympic Games in Paris. The 2024 Games would give Ledecky the opportunity to capture a fourth consecutive gold medal in the 800 freestyle.
