{"id":436719,"date":"2020-06-27T09:45:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T16:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=436719"},"modified":"2020-06-27T16:30:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T23:30:01","slug":"2016-trials-throwback-katie-ledecky-takes-victory-lap-in-800","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2016-trials-throwback-katie-ledecky-takes-victory-lap-in-800\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Trials Throwback: Katie Ledecky Takes Victory Lap in 800"},"content":{"rendered":"

2016 Trials Throwback: Katie Ledecky Takes Victory Lap in 800<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each day during the pre-scheduled days of the 2020 US Olympic Trials, Swimming World will take its readers back four years to the 2016 Trials in Omaha to recap each event, and will offer some insight into what the events will look like in 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Day 7 of the 2016 Trials, Katie Ledecky<\/strong> had proven to be everything that had been foretold by her previous four dominant years in the pool. She reinforced her supremacy by winning the 400 freestyle. She won the 200 free by more than a second. She stated a convincing case for a spot in the 400 free relay, finishing seventh in the 100 free in breaking 54 seconds.<\/p>\n

The final installment of this tour de force should have been merely a victory lap for Ledecky, the world record holder in the event.<\/p>\n

The Race<\/h4>\n

\u2026 And it was. Leah Smith,<\/strong> who\u2019d followed Ledecky to Rio in the 400 and earned a relay spot by finishing third in the 200 at 2016 Trials, was the clear second choice<\/a> again thanks to a pair of personal-bests: 8:21.64 in prelims<\/a>, 8:20.18 in finals, four and a half seconds clear of the challenge by Stephanie Peacock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Ledecky opened up acres of space<\/a> from Smith. She drilled an 8:10.91 in prelims, then 8:10.32 in finals<\/a>. It didn\u2019t scare her world record of 8:06.68, but it more than did the job to get to Rio.<\/p>\n