FINA World Championships Predictions: Women’s 800 Free

by David Rieder - Senior Writer

18 July 2017, 12:00pm

For Katie Ledecky, the 800 free will once again be her last race of an extremely busy program at the FINA World Championships in Budapest. It should be no surprise that she’s the heavy favorite to win gold.

Ledecky won Olympic gold in the event in 2012 and then out-dueled Lotte Friis to win the World title one year later. No one has been close to her since, and she beat the field in Rio by more than 10 seconds. Even if she doesn’t challenge her otherworldly world record of 8:04.79, Ledecky should have no one close to her in this race.

In the battle for silver and bronze, Boglarka Kapas should be front-and-center, as the Olympic bronze medalist from Rio should have some major support from the Hungarian fans.

Read below to see what Swimming World’s trio of experts think will happen in Budapest. David Rieder, John Lohn and Andy Ross will each offer their predictions for who will finish on the podium.

Women’s 800 Free

Current Records:

World Record: Katie Ledecky, USA (2016) — 8:04.79
Championship Record: Katie Ledecky, USA (2015) — 8:07.39
American Record: Katie Ledecky (2016) — 8:04.79

2015 World Champion: Katie Ledecky, USA — 8:07.39
2016 Olympic Gold Medalist: Katie Ledecky, USA — 8:04.79
2017 World No. 1: Katie Ledecky, USA — 8:11.50

Swimming World Predictions

David Rieder’s Picks:

Gold: Katie Ledecky, USA
Silver: Boglarka Kapas, HUN
Bronze: Leah Smith, USA

John Lohn’s Picks:

Gold: Katie Ledecky, USA
Silver: Boglarka Kapas, HUN
Bronze: Leah Smith, USA

Andy Ross’ Picks:

Gold: Katie Ledecky, USA
Silver: Leah Smith, USA
Bronze: Boglarka Kapas, HUN

Previous Events

Day One:

• Men’s 400 Free
• Women’s 400 Free
• Women’s 400 Free Relay
• Men’s 400 Free Relay

Day Two:

• Men’s 100 Breast
• Women’s 100 Fly
• Men’s 50 Fly
• Women’s 200 IM

Day Three:

• Men’s 200 Free
• Women’s 1500 Free
• Women’s 100 Back
• Men’s 100 Back
• Women’s 100 Breast

Day Four:

• Women’s 200 Free
• Men’s 200 Fly
• Men’s 50 Breast
• Men’s 800 Free
• Mixed 400 Medley Relay

Day Five:

• Men’s 200 IM
• Men’s 100 Free
• Women’s 50 Back
• Women’s 200 Fly
• Women’s 800 Free Relay

Day Six:

• Women’s 100 Free
• Men’s 200 Back
• Women’s 200 Breast
• Men’s 200 Breast
• Men’s 800 Free Relay

Day Seven:

• Women’s 50 Fly
• Men’s 50 Free
• Women’s 200 Back
• Men’s 100 Fly

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Halim Yussuf

6 years ago

Who else, but Katie.

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commonwombat

6 years ago

Don’t think anyone is going to dispute the likely winner. A significantly weakened field also narrows down the list of likely suspects for the minor coin. Only question really concerns the order re silver/bronze

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Cecilia Mancin

6 years ago

KATIE YOU ARE MY IDOL! ♡

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