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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, June 25. IT might not have been her world-leading time of 8:20.64 from the Mesa stop of the Arena Grand Prix, but Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky did what she had to do at U.S. Nationals and World Championship Trials to lock down a spot on the World Championship squad heading to Barcelona.
Ledecky went out under world-record pace through the 200-meter mark with a scary 2:00.67 before she started to fade off that pace. As astutely noted for context by Halton Hills Blue Fins head coach Mike Thompson on Twitter, Ledecky's 200 split would be in the top 20 in Canada. Additionally, her 400 split (4:07.39) would be fourth-fastest in Canadian history. In the end, Ledecky wound up taking the title in 8:22.41.
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton, who has been teasing big news all week regarding an apparel sponsorship, definitely made her mystery sponsor happy with a berth on the Barcelona squad as she dropped a second-place 8:23.24. The performance also improved on Sutton's already third-ranked season best of 8:24.05 from the Austin stop of the Arena Grand Prix.
1 Ledecky, Katie 16 Nation's Capital 8:14.63 8:22.41 951 20
r:+0.69 28.09 58.39 (30.30)
1:29.32 (30.93) 2:00.67 (31.35)
2:32.27 (31.60) 3:03.84 (31.57)
3:35.44 (31.60) 4:07.39 (31.95)
4:39.53 (32.14) 5:11.12 (31.59)
5:43.43 (32.31) 6:15.75 (32.32)
6:47.87 (32.12) 7:19.98 (32.11)
7:51.87 (31.89) 8:22.41 (30.54)
2 Sutton, Chloe 21 Mission Viejo Na 8:25.88 8:23.24 946 17
r:+0.71 28.72 59.34 (30.62)
1:30.64 (31.30) 2:02.10 (31.46)
2:33.47 (31.37) 3:05.12 (31.65)
3:36.89 (31.77) 4:08.69 (31.80)
4:40.52 (31.83) 5:12.64 (32.12)
5:44.67 (32.03) 6:16.77 (32.10)
6:48.49 (31.72) 7:21.04 (32.55)
7:52.87 (31.83) 8:23.24 (30.37)
NBAC's Gillian Ryan raced to third in 8:29.80, a second off her seed time of 8:28.99, while Haley Anderson of Trojan took fourth overall in 8:29.82. Out of an earlier heat, SoNoCo's Alicia Mathieu finished fifth overall with an 8:32.80 in the timed final event, while Sarasota Y's Danielle Valley claimed sixth in 8:33.94.
Club Wolverine's Emily Brunemann (8:35.83) and JCC's Leah Smith (8:36.04) rounded out the top eight in the timed final distance freestyle event.
