Katie Grimes Sets World Junior Record In Special 1500 Freestyle At Indy World Cup
With the 1500-meter freestyle not part of the women’s program at the FINA World Cup stop in Indianapolis, a special head-to-head duel in the event was set up by the world governing body at the Indiana University Natatorium. The short-course time trial served as an opportunity for American Katie Grimes and France’s Alexa Reyna, who lives in the United States, to chase the world junior record in the 1500 freestyle.
Ultimately, Grimes broke the record, as the 16-year-old produced a time of 15:42.05, which easily topped the 15:45.29 of Turkey’s Merve Tuncel and makes Grimes the No. 15 performer in history. Grimes was the silver medalist in the 1500 freestyle at last summer’s World Championships in Budapest, so a WJR was hardly a shocking development for the standout from Sandpipers of Nevada.
On the opening night of the World Cup stop, Grimes was the runnerup in the 200 butterfly, finishing behind fellow teenager Summer McIntosh of Canada. Later this week, she’ll contest the 800 freestyle, where Katie Ledecky is expected to take down the world record. Grimes could add another world junior record to her resume in that event.
In addition to winning silver behind Ledecky at the World Championships, Grimes was also the runnerup in the 400 individual medley.