Katie Ledecky Posts Third-Fastest Women's 800 Free In History (8:07.07)
2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
With her swim on Tuesday night, Katie Ledecky continues to prove that she’s invincible in distance freestyle.
In the fastest heat of the women’s 800 free at the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships, Ledecky swam a time of 8:07.07, which is the third-fastest time in the history of the event and also her fastest time since 2016. The only two times clocked that were faster than Ledecky’s nationals swim were her 8:06.68 from the 2016 Arena Pro Series and her 8:04.79 which currently stands as the World Record.
Ledecky now holds the top 30 performances of all-time in the women’s 800 free.
All-Time Top Performances, Women’s 800 Meter Freestyle:
This sentiment has been repeated many times before, but Ledecky’s career has seen a massive resurgence since she left Stanford in the fall of 2021 to train with Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida. In a five-year span starting from after she set the 800 free World Record in 2016 to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she only broke the 8:10 barrier twice in the event. However, after moving to Florida, she has broken 8:10 a total of three times in two years.
In her race, Ledecky’s splits were very consistent, as she held 30-points until she reached the 650-meter mark. She then closed out her race in a blistering 29.34 final 50. Up until the 450-meter mark, she was ahead of her world record pace.
Ledecky’s Splits:
50m 27.62 100m 30.08 (57.70) 150m 30.24 (1:27.94) 200m 30.80 (1:58.74) 250m 30.50 (2:29.24) 300m 30.76 (3:00.00) 350m 30.77 (3:30.77) 400m 30.96 (4:01.73) 450m 30.66 (4:32.39) 500m 30.57 (5:02.96) 550m 30.84 (5:33.80) 600m 30.91 (6:04.71) 650m 30.79 (6:35.50) 700m 31.21 (7:06.71) 750m 31.02 (7:37.73) 800m 29.34 (8:07.07) Total 8:07.07
Ledecky won her race by over 13 seconds, earning herself a spot on the 2023 U.S. World Championships team. This qualification is her sixth-straight World Championships berth, as she previously made the Worlds teams in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. The only other swimmers that have qualified for six different World Championship teams are Nathan Adrian, Elizabeth Beisel, Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte, and Michael Phelps.
Source: SwimSwam
