Katie Ledecky Doubles in 200-800 Free at Longhorn Invite; Simone Manuel & Isabelle Stadden Shine

Katie Ledecky Doubles in 200-800 Freestyle at Longhorn Elite Invite; Simone Manuel & Isabelle Stadden Shine

Make it four victories in two days for Katie Ledecky at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite, with her latest double much more in line with what we are accustomed to seeing from the Team USA star. Taking part in a tuneup for next month’s United States Olympic Trials, Ledecky prevailed in the 200-meter freestyle and 800 freestyle on Friday night.

In the 200 freestyle, which opened the Day Two program, Ledecky registered a time of 1:55.47. That time was nearly a second quicker than what the Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova produced to win the European title in Budapest earlier this week. Seemanova was timed in 1:56.27, with Italian great Federica Pellegrini going 1:56.29 for the silver medal.

Ledecky, who is planning to chase Olympic freestyle titles from the 200 through 1500, was followed to the wall by Madisyn Cox in 1:57.38. Cox put together a 4:36 clocking in the 400 individual medley on Thursday, suggesting she is surging at an opportune time.

To cap her night, Ledecky won the 800 freestyle in 8:14.48, an effort that saw her check in with even splits of 4:07.05 and 4:07.43. Ledecky is pursuing her third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event, having won that crown in 2012 and 2016.

On the opening day of the competition, Ledecky doubled in the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle. While her triumph in the longer distance was expected, she pulled off an upset in the 100 freestyle by edging Stanford teammate Simone Manuel, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the event. Ledecky was timed in 53.82, just .01 ahead of Manuel. Manuel claimed the 50 freestyle on Friday with the only sub-25 performance of the evening, as she went 24.74.

In the 200 backstroke, Cal standout Isabelle Stadden provided a reminder that she will be in the mix at the Olympic Trials. Stadden touched the wall in 2:07.28, a swim that followed her 2:07.93 from prelims. Meanwhile, Anna Elendt topped the field in the 200 breaststroke, going 2:26.85.

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