Katie Ledecky Annihilates World Record in Short-Course 1500 Freestyle<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Katie Ledecky destroyed the world record in the short-course version of the 1500-meter freestyle during the World Cup stop in Toronto.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FLASH: Katie Ledecky Annihilates WR in Short-Course 1500 Freestyle; Wipes Nearly 10 Seconds Off Former Mark; 800 Split An American Record\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Katie Ledecky destroyed the world record in the short-course version of the 1500-meter freestyle during the World Cup stop in Toronto.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-29T22:36:11+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-29T22:39:52+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/katie-ledecky-2022-USA-Nationals-1653.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3f0e2ad8a794a7b70130d33a350970df\"},\"headline\":\"FLASH: Katie Ledecky Annihilates WR in Short-Course 1500 Freestyle; 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{"id":515242,"date":"2022-10-29T15:36:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T22:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=515242"},"modified":"2022-10-29T15:39:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T22:39:52","slug":"flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-katie-ledecky-annihilates-world-record-in-short-course-1500-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"FLASH: Katie Ledecky Annihilates WR in Short-Course 1500 Freestyle; Wipes Nearly 10 Seconds Off Former Mark; 800 Split An American Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLASH: Katie Ledecky Annihilates World Record in Short-Course 1500 Freestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes, a world record can be seen coming. An athlete will be on a roll, his\/her times inching ever closer to the standard in a specific event. Yet, rare are the days when a world record is basically a foregone conclusion, a countdown unfolding until the mark is wiped from the books and replaced with new digits.<\/p>\n

Such was the case on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

When Katie Ledecky<\/strong> stepped onto the blocks for the final of the 1500-meter freestyle at the FINA<\/a> World Cup in Toronto, the previous record in the event was on life support. The greatest distance swimmer in history, Ledecky had never contested the event in the short-course meters format during her career, and that fact alone was the reason she didn\u2019t possess the world record.<\/p>\n

In her maiden outing in the short-course version of the 1500 freestyle, Ledecky blazed a time of 15:08.64. That performance obliterated the previous world record of Germany\u2019s Sarah Wellbrock<\/strong> (nee Kohler) by nearly 10 seconds. Wellbrock clocked 15:18.01 in 2019 at the German National Championships. The previous American record was held by Kate Ziegler<\/strong>, who produced a time of 15:32.90 in 2007.<\/p>\n

Ledecky cringed when she touched the wall, the toll of her 60 laps clearly evident. But she also managed a few fist pumps and a splash of the water, an indication that the world record was a clear target for the weekend.<\/p>\n

If the slightest doubt concerning a world record existed prior to the race, it was erased on the opening lap when Ledecky was already more than a half-second under the world-record pace. By the 100-meter mark, Ledecky was nearly a second ahead of pace, and her margin only continued to grow with each lap. At the 400-meter point, Ledecky was timed in 4:00.22, a superb performance for the open 400 freestyle.<\/p>\n

Ahead of her assault on Wellbrock\u2019s record, Ledecky\u2019s long-course global standard of 15:20.48 stood just more than two seconds off the short-course mark. That minimal separation served as additional evidence that Ledecky was not chasing the SCM record but was engaged in more of a rightful coronation. In addition to now owning both 1500 freestyle marks, Ledecky is also the fastest in history in the 1650-yard freestyle, giving her the distance-record trifecta.<\/p>\n

On the opening night of the World Cup, Ledecky engaged in a stellar duel in the 400 freestyle with Canadian 16-year-old Summer McIntosh<\/strong>, as they clocked the second- and third-fastest times in history. McIntosh edged Ledecky down the last lap to set a World Junior Record of 3:52.80<\/a> while Ledecky set an American record of 3:52.88.<\/p>\n

When the World Cup moves to Indianapolis next week, Ledecky is expected to make a run at the short-course world record in the 800 freestyle, which belongs to Spain’s Mireia Belmonte<\/strong> at 7:59.34. Like the 1500 freestyle, Ledecky is a newcomer to that event in the short-course meters format and anything less than a world record would be surprising. Stunningly, Ledecky went through the 800-meter mark in her 1500 freestyle in 8:00.58, just more than a second off Belmonte’s standard. Ledecky’s split time for 800 meters is an American record, almost seven seconds faster than the 8:07.67 of Leah Smith<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"