TYR Pro Series: Katie Ledecky Blazes to 800 Free Win; Posts Time Only She Has Bettered
No one, other than herself, has ever gone faster than what Katie Ledecky produced in the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday night at the TYR Pro Series in San Antonio. Yet, Ledecky’s winning time of 8:13.64 only ranks 22nd on her all-time list, such is the dominance she has exhibited in the event. Ledecky now owns the 23-fastest times in history, an almost unfathomable statistic, and is storming toward a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the discipline.
Racing in her first competition in a year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ledecky was sensational in San Antonio, leaving the Texas city with four victories, the other wins arriving in the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 1500 freestyle. Ledecky will try to pull off that quadruple on a much-bigger stage this summer, namely the Olympic Games. The Tokyo Games will mark the first time the 1500 free is contested for women.
Ledecky broke onto the international scene in 2012 by capturing the Olympic crown in London in the 800 freestyle, and since that breakthrough has repeated as Olympic champ and captured four world championships, the latest in 2019 while battling a stomach bug. She also holds the world record at an obscene 8:04.79, nearly 10 seconds quicker than the 8:14.10 that makes British Olympic champ Rebecca Adlington the No. 2 performer in history.
Ledecky was followed to the wall in San Antonio by Leah Smith, who posted a solid in-season time of 8:25.67. By the 200-meter mark, Ledecky already had a lead of nearly three seconds and she was ahead at the midway point by almost six seconds.
Egypt’s Marwan El Kamash won the men’s 800 freestyle in 7:58.33, a victory that complemented an earlier first-place finish in the 400 free. Jordan Wilimovsky was second in 8:00.71.
Event 27 Women 800 LC Meter Freestyle
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World: W 8:04.79 8/7/2016 Katie Ledecky, USA
American: A 8:04.79 8/7/2016 Katie Ledecky, USA
U.S. Open: O 8:06.68 1/17/2016 Katie Ledecky, Nation's Capital
Jr World: J 8:11.00 6/22/2014 Katie Ledecky, USA
Pro Swim: P 8:06.68 2016 Katie Ledecky
8:44.01 W-II Oly Trials Wave II
8:48.09 W-I Oly Trials Wave I
Name Age Team Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 Katie Ledecky 23 Nation's Capital 8:10.70 8:13.64
r:+0.68 28.36 58.49 (30.13)
1:29.40 (30.91) 2:00.74 (31.34)
2:32.04 (31.30) 3:03.30 (31.26)
3:34.69 (31.39) 4:06.19 (31.50)
4:37.09 (30.90) 5:08.37 (31.28)
5:39.57 (31.20) 6:10.60 (31.03)
6:41.72 (31.12) 7:12.81 (31.09)
7:43.94 (31.13) 8:13.64 (29.70)
2 Leah Smith 25 Unattached 8:16.33 8:25.67
r:+0.71 28.84 59.93 (31.09)
1:31.47 (31.54) 2:03.49 (32.02)
2:35.58 (32.09) 3:07.94 (32.36)
3:39.86 (31.92) 4:12.09 (32.23)
4:43.78 (31.69) 5:15.92 (32.14)
5:47.67 (31.75) 6:19.64 (31.97)
6:51.45 (31.81) 7:23.58 (32.13)
7:55.10 (31.52) 8:25.67 (30.57)
3 Haley Anderson 29 Mission Viejo Na 8:27.63 8:29.15
r:+0.80 28.92 1:00.22 (31.30)
1:31.83 (31.61) 2:03.82 (31.99)
2:35.70 (31.88) 3:07.62 (31.92)
3:39.72 (32.10) 4:12.09 (32.37)
4:44.28 (32.19) 5:16.55 (32.27)
5:48.67 (32.12) 6:21.13 (32.46)
6:53.29 (32.16) 7:25.55 (32.26)
7:57.37 (31.82) 8:29.15 (31.78)
4 Erica Sullivan 20 Sandpipers Of Ne 8:26.13 8:30.12
r:+0.67 29.35 1:00.79 (31.44)
1:32.43 (31.64) 2:04.57 (32.14)
2:36.84 (32.27) 3:09.24 (32.40)
3:41.67 (32.43) 4:14.11 (32.44)
4:46.14 (32.03) 5:18.51 (32.37)
5:50.82 (32.31) 6:22.79 (31.97)
6:54.97 (32.18) 7:26.81 (31.84)
7:58.85 (32.04) 8:30.12 (31.27)
5 Ashley Twichell 31 TAC Titans 8:27.36 8:30.90
r:+0.78 29.88 1:01.64 (31.76)
1:33.36 (31.72) 2:05.19 (31.83)
2:37.24 (32.05) 3:09.37 (32.13)
3:41.51 (32.14) 4:13.70 (32.19)
4:45.64 (31.94) 5:17.96 (32.32)
5:50.12 (32.16) 6:22.68 (32.56)
6:55.00 (32.32) 7:27.42 (32.42)
7:59.47 (32.05) 8:30.90 (31.43)
6 Bella Sims 15 Sandpipers Of Ne 8:27.01 8:31.48
r:+0.60 28.72 1:00.09 (31.37)
1:31.84 (31.75) 2:04.00 (32.16)
2:35.84 (31.84) 3:08.18 (32.34)
3:40.14 (31.96) 4:12.33 (32.19)
4:44.67 (32.34) 5:17.19 (32.52)
5:49.69 (32.50) 6:22.36 (32.67)
6:54.87 (32.51) 7:27.60 (32.73)
7:59.94 (32.34) 8:31.48 (31.54)
7 Ally McHugh 23 Wisconsin Aquati 8:26.04 8:37.66
r:+0.80 29.97 1:01.77 (31.80)
1:33.76 (31.99) 2:06.01 (32.25)
2:38.33 (32.32) 3:10.78 (32.45)
3:43.07 (32.29) 4:15.77 (32.70)
4:48.35 (32.58) 5:21.29 (32.94)
5:54.01 (32.72) 6:26.91 (32.90)
6:59.87 (32.96) 7:32.89 (33.02)
8:05.67 (32.78) 8:37.66 (31.99)
8 Kaersten Meitz 25 Boilermaker Aqua 8:31.52 8:39.86
r:+0.76 31.17 1:04.19 (33.02)
1:37.07 (32.88) 2:10.28 (33.21)
2:43.06 (32.78) 3:16.26 (33.20)
3:49.24 (32.98) 4:22.10 (32.86)
4:54.68 (32.58) 5:27.28 (32.60)
5:59.62 (32.34) 6:32.13 (32.51)
7:04.78 (32.65) 7:37.00 (32.22)
8:08.79 (31.79) 8:39.86 (31.07)
Event 28 Men 800 LC Meter Freestyle
=========================================================================
World: W 7:32.12 7/29/2009 Lin Zhang, CHN
American: A 7:43.60 7/31/2013 Michael McBroom, USA
U.S. Open: O 7:44.57 7/29/2018 Zane Grothe, Mission Viejo Na
Jr World: J 7:45.67 8/28/2013 Mack Horton, AUS
Pro Swim: P 7:49.96 2014 Michael McBroom
8:08.95 W-II Oly Trials Wave II
8:12.99 W-I Oly Trials Wave I
Name Age Team Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 *Marwan El Kama 27 Indiana Swim Clu 7:52.19 7:58.33
r:+0.73 27.73 57.58 (29.85)
1:27.97 (30.39) 1:58.38 (30.41)
2:28.60 (30.22) 2:58.95 (30.35)
3:29.50 (30.55) 3:59.95 (30.45)
4:30.58 (30.63) 5:00.94 (30.36)
5:31.22 (30.28) 6:01.33 (30.11)
6:31.49 (30.16) 7:01.70 (30.21)
7:30.78 (29.08) 7:58.33 (27.55)
2 Jordan Wilimovs 26 KSwim 7:49.76 8:00.71
r:+0.66 28.26 58.13 (29.87)
1:28.30 (30.17) 1:58.48 (30.18)
2:29.01 (30.53) 2:59.17 (30.16)
3:29.83 (30.66) 4:00.23 (30.40)
4:30.76 (30.53) 5:01.08 (30.32)
5:31.40 (30.32) 6:01.67 (30.27)
6:31.72 (30.05) 7:01.96 (30.24)
7:31.77 (29.81) 8:00.71 (28.94)
3 Will Gallant 19 Mission Viejo Na 8:02.15 8:04.93
r:+0.66 27.57 57.38 (29.81)
1:27.55 (30.17) 1:57.67 (30.12)
2:28.01 (30.34) 2:58.42 (30.41)
3:29.04 (30.62) 3:59.63 (30.59)
4:30.45 (30.82) 5:01.16 (30.71)
5:31.89 (30.73) 6:02.59 (30.70)
6:33.30 (30.71) 7:04.12 (30.82)
7:34.97 (30.85) 8:04.93 (29.96)
4 Chris Wieser 25 DART Swimming 8:01.98 8:11.13
r:+0.61 27.41 57.37 (29.96)
1:27.74 (30.37) 1:58.31 (30.57)
2:29.28 (30.97) 2:59.91 (30.63)
3:30.63 (30.72) 4:01.01 (30.38)
4:31.81 (30.80) 5:02.92 (31.11)
5:34.24 (31.32) 6:06.06 (31.82)
6:37.27 (31.21) 7:09.19 (31.92)
7:40.01 (30.82) 8:11.13 (31.12)
5 David Heron 25 Mission Viejo Na 8:07.11 8:16.70
r:+0.72 27.83 58.08 (30.25)
1:28.74 (30.66) 1:59.55 (30.81)
2:30.53 (30.98) 3:01.50 (30.97)
3:32.94 (31.44) 4:04.28 (31.34)
4:35.89 (31.61) 5:07.35 (31.46)
5:39.33 (31.98) 6:11.25 (31.92)
6:42.96 (31.71) 7:14.43 (31.47)
7:46.06 (31.63) 8:16.70 (30.64)
6 Liam Custer 16 Sarasota Sharks 8:09.69 8:17.67
r:+0.71 28.54 59.87 (31.33)
1:30.20 (30.33) 2:00.72 (30.52)
2:31.27 (30.55) 3:02.43 (31.16)
3:33.25 (30.82) 4:04.50 (31.25)
4:35.62 (31.12) 5:07.28 (31.66)
5:38.87 (31.59) 6:10.78 (31.91)
6:42.53 (31.75) 7:14.64 (32.11)
7:46.60 (31.96) 8:17.67 (31.07)
7 *Christian Bayo 29 TAC Titans 8:06.34 8:30.49
r:+0.76 28.59 1:00.18 (31.59)
1:31.35 (31.17) 2:03.06 (31.71)
2:34.86 (31.80) 3:07.19 (32.33)
3:39.51 (32.32) 4:12.03 (32.52)
4:44.01 (31.98) 5:16.37 (32.36)
5:48.76 (32.39) 6:21.49 (32.73)
6:53.91 (32.42) 7:26.49 (32.58)
7:58.77 (32.28) 8:30.49 (31.72)
