Swimming World Performance of the Week: Katie Ledecky’s 200 Freestyle

Brenton Tse Photography

This week featured a host of fast racing from across national, international, and collegiate competitions, and while there were many worthy performances from across the swimming world, Katie Ledecky’s 200 meter freestyle from the first stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series stood above the rest.

Just a week after scaring the American Record in the 500 freestyle, Ledecky competed in a marathon of events in Minneapolis, dominating the 400 and 800 freestyles while also recording top 8 finishes in the 400 IM, 50 (yes, the 50!), and 100 freestyles. And while those performances were all worthy of attention in their own right, it was her 200 freestyle that stood out among the rest.

Stepping up against fellow superstars Missy Franklin and Allison Schmitt, Ledecky posted a final time of 1:55.37 to take the title from her fellow American teammates and break Schmitt’s pool record of 1:55.82 from 2011.

While the time itself is clearly impressive (it is just off her personal best 1:55.16 from her World Championship win this summer), what is more significant is how fast that time is given how early we are in the year. While Ledecky has been known to throw down world leading (and on occasion world record) performances in the distance events throughout the year, this 200 time should serve as a warning across the swimming world that Katie Ledecky is planning to repeat her dominant 200-400-800 title sweep from World Championships in Rio and be a central fixture of the U.S. 800 free relay. Admitting that she is in the midst of heavy training right now as she returns to racing, it will be interesting to see how her performance in this event continues to evolve as we move into 2016 toward trials.

Congratulations, Katie Ledecky, on earning the Swimming World Performance of the Week!

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x