U.S. International Team Trials: Katie Ledecky Crushes Field in 200 Freestyle Prelims
After a dominant performance in Tuesday night’s 800 freestyle, Katie Ledecky returned to the pool Wednesday morning to easily post the top qualifying time in the women’s 200 free. Ledecky, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 free and the fourth-fastest performer in history in the event, opened up a bodylength lead on her heat by the 150-meter mark, and she finished in 1:56.20, more than a second-and-a-half ahead of the field.
Ledecky finished in 1:56.20. So far this year, the 25-year-old has been as fast as 1:55.66 in the 200 free, a mark which ranks third in the world behind Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus (1:54.66) and Summer McIntosh (1:55.39). We’ll see if Ledecky can challenge those marks in the final, where she will be the heavy favorite.
In a strong field that included several swimmers who have won Olympic medals in the 800 free relay, a surprising 15-year-old took the second seed. Sandpipers of Nevada’s Claire Weinstein finished in 1:57.71, which was good enough for the No. 2 time overall. Weinstein was in contention in the 800 free Tuesday night before falling back to fifth, but she showed some resolve in her heat to beat a field that included Olympians Leah Smith, Paige Madden, Torri Huske and Erika Brown.
Swimming in a non-circle-seeded heat by virtue of her yards entry time, Alex Walsh put up a third-place mark of 1:57.89 to jump into contention, while Nation’s Capital’s Erin Gemmell was fourth in 1:57.89. Gemmell, 17, is the daughter of veteran coach Bruce Gemmell, who coached Ledecky from 2012-16, and Gemmell swam next to Ledecky in prelims.
Smith, already on the Worlds team after her second-place result in the 800 free, qualified fifth in 1:57.96, while Hali Flickinger got into the final in sixth place (1:58.31). Two other Sandpipers swimmers, 17-year-old Bella Sims and 16-year-old Katie Grimes (1:58.67), earned the last two spots in the final. Grimes finished five hundredths ahead of Madden, who ended up ninth in 1:58.72.
Madden was the bronze medalist in the 200 free at the Short Course World Championships, and she joined Ledecky, Allison Schmitt and Katie McLaughlin to win silver in the 800 free relay at the Tokyo Olympics. Madden missing the final leaves Ledecky as the only swimmer from last year’s finals squad to be in contention for this year’s Worlds team, although Sims was a member of the relay squad in prelims.
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