U.S. Nationals: Katie Ledecky Swims Third-Fastest 800 Free Ever and Welcomes Jillian Cox to Worlds Team

Katie Ledecky -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Nationals: Katie Ledecky Swims Third-Fastest 800 Free Ever and Welcomes Jillian Cox to Worlds Team

Katie Ledecky cannot usually outdo herself. She has spent years wracking up the fastest times ever in all of the distance freestyle races, and she has set the world records to nearly impossible standards. The mark in the 800 free, the 8:04.79 she swam in her final race of the performance of her career at the Rio Olympics, might be the most impressive of all. At last year’s World Championships, when Ledecky won gold in 8:08.04, it was her fastest mark in four years.

But Tuesday evening in Indianapolis, Ledecky put a scare into that incredible record. It was a familiar sight with Ledecky massively outpacing the field, and flipping with 200 meters remaining, she was only four tenths away from world-record pace. Could it be that the seven-time Olympic champion was about to break her first long course record in five years?

Not quite, as Ledecky fell slightly off toward the end, but the seven-time Olympic champion was understandably thrilled with the result. She touched in 8:07.07, the third-fastest time in history. The only occasions when Ledecky has been quicker were at the Rio Olympics and at a Pro Series meet in Austin, Texas, in January 2016. This time was also 6.5 seconds ahead of the second-fastest performer in history, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, who owns a best time of 8:13.59.

“I’ve been feeling good. I knew I could be pretty good tonight. I didn’t expect a world record or anything, but I definitely felt like I could be at least what I was last summer at Worlds. Pleased with that, and pleased with how it felt as well,” Ledecky said.

“Training’s been going great. Every day, we’re chipping away, and we’ve been putting in really good work since August. Of course there are ups and downs and days that make you a little worried, but Coach Nesty always knows how to calm me down and knows how to develop a plan for all of us, a season plan. You go in every day and give your best effort and know the results are going to be there at the end of the season.”

At the end of her second full season swimming under coach Anthony Nesty’s leadership at the University of Florida, Ledecky has more trust and comfort in her training and the program, and she drew a direct line between her results in training and now recording some of her best swims in years.

“I think the first year at a program, you’re getting a feel for the program and the different sets and the weekly schedule,” Ledecky said. “I think I just felt a lot more comfortable this year when we started in August. By Christmas training, I was doing things I’ve never done before from a yardage perspective, from intensity, from times I’m doing in practice while doing that yardage. Those are all things that give me confidence, and I carried that through January into the spring, and we’re finally here at the meets in June and July that we’ve been training for.”

Ledecky is also closing down on another notch of history as she could become the first swimmer, female or male, to ever win six world titles in one event. Ledecky has been the gold medalist in the 800 free at Worlds in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022, and she is certainly the heavy favorite heading into the Fukuoka World Championships next month.

Meanwhile, the race for second saw an unlikely swimmer earning the chance to join Ledecky at Worlds: Longhorn’s Jillian Cox. The 17-year-old swam in second place for most of the race, and she held off a late charge from Sandpipers’ Claire Weinstein for second place. Cox finished in 8:20.28, followed by Weinstein’s 8:21.00.

Leah Smith, who had competed alongside Ledecky in the 800 at the last three editions of the World Championships, took fourth in 8:21.88 while Weinstein’s Sandpipers teammate Katie Grimes ended up fifth in 8:23.78. Grimes was fourth in the 800 free at the Tokyo Olympics, but she has Kensey McMahon, the NCAA champion in the 500 and 1650-yard free this year, placed sixth in 8:25.97.

Cox dropped more than 10 seconds from her previous best time, but after the race, she was simply shocked and overwhelmed to have secured a World Championships spot.

“I am speechless. I can’t even explain how excited I am. My coach and I have been training so hard this past year. It’s really nice to see it pay off, and swimming in that field is such an honor. I could not be happier,” Cox said. “I’ve got to say, Worlds was not on my radar. I was looking for more Junior Worlds and maybe Pan Ams. I told my friends today, they were like, ‘What are your odds of making the Worlds team?’ And I said, ‘Slim to none. Don’t even think about it.’”

Meanwhile, she was in disbelief at the prospect of racing alongside Ledecky at a major competition. “That’s such an honor because I’ve looked up to her for so long. For the little kid in me who watched her race, it’s so crazy because now she’s a teammate of mine,” she said. “Right after the podium, she said, ‘We’re going to have so much fun this summer.’ That just makes me so happy.”

And Ledecky, who has been competing internationally and winning gold medals since she was 15, reacted just the same as she did in 2021 when Grimes booked the second: welcoming her new teammate into the fold eagerly, with the promise of doing anything she can to help Cox and the influx of other young talent on the Worlds team as they make the trip to Fukuoka.

“It means a lot,” Ledecky said of Cox’s reaction. “I enjoy meeting all these swimmers, and I’m really excited about the team that’s starting to form for Japan and the experience that they’re going to be able to get. I hope they all know that they can lean on me and feel comfortable around me. I think we always get the job done, and I’m excited to see what Jillian can do this summer.”

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