Katie Ledecky<\/strong> reset her NCAA, American and US Open Record from the Pac-12 Championships a few short weeks ago. Ledecky broke all the records at 4:24.06, a second under the old record at 4:25.15. An equally impressive swim, Leah Smith<\/strong> broke 4:30 for the first time with a 4:28.90, moving her up to the 11th fastest performance of all time.<\/p>\n

Ledecky and Smith were way ahead from the rest of the field the entire way, the only question was how far they could both go under their best times. Smith had been knocking on the 4:30 barrier for two years now and she finally did it tonight while trailing one of the best swimmers in history. This is Stanford’s first title in the 500 free since 2001 when Jessica Foschi<\/strong> won it at 4:37.81. It is the eighth title in the 500 for Stanford as Marybeth Linzmeier<\/strong> won three titles from 1982-1984 and Janet Evans<\/strong> won two in 1990 and 1991.<\/p>\n

Watch Swimming World’s<\/em>\u00a0video interview from after the race with Ledecky.<\/p>\n