2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale

• Wednesday, April 30 – Saturday, May 3, 2025
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center
• LCM (50 meters)
• Start Times
  • Wednesday Distance: 5pm (ET)
  • All Prelims: 9am (ET)
  • Thurs-Sat Finals: 6pm (ET)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results or on Meet Mobile: “2025 TYR Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale”

The 2025 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale will kick off this evening with a single event on the schedule: the 1500 freestyle. This event will be contested as timed finals, with the heats swum fastest to slowest, alternating between women and men.

Action will continue through Saturday, with preliminary heats of the 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 50 backstroke, 200 butterfly, and 400 freestyle set for tomorrow at 9am (Eastern Time).

Women’s 1500 Freestyle — Timed Final

• World Record: 15:20.48, Katie Ledecky (2018)
• American Record: 15:20.48, Katie Ledecky (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 15:20.48, Katie Ledecky (2018)
• Junior World Record: 15:28.36, Katie Ledecky (2014)
• Pro Swim Record: 15:20.48, Katie Ledecky (2018)

Current Top 8:

1. Katie Ledecky (GSC) – 15:24.51 *#2 Performance of All-Time*
2. Jillian Cox (TXLA) – 16:04.13
3. Kate Hurst (TXLA) – 16:14.26
4. Michaela Mattes (FLOR) – 16:21.06
5. Kristel Kobrich (CHI) – 16:27.79
6. Kayla Han (RMDA) – 16:28.92
7. Rebecca Diaconescu (SAND) – 16:31.20
8. Deniz Ertan (SUN) – 16:35.19

Nine-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky charged out to an early lead in the women’s 1500 free and never relinquished it. She threw down from the very beginning, splitting 28.10 at the 50 and 58.56 at the 100, establishing a nearly three-body-length lead in just the first 100 of the race. She was under world record pace through the first 450, flipping in 2:00.06 at the 200, 4:04.75 at the 400, and 8:12.76 at the 800.

28-year-old Ledecky ultimately hit the wall in 15:24.51, the second-fastest performance of all time, behind only her own world record of 15:20.48 set at the 2018 Pro Swim Series stop in Indianapolis, with splits of 5:07, 5:08, and 5:08 by 500s. Her previous best in recent years was the 15:26.27 she clocked to capture gold at the 2023 World Championships. At the Paris Olympics last summer, she logged a winning time of 15:30.02.

The Anthony Nesty-trained athlete now holds the 22 fastest swims in the history of this event, with Lotte Friis‘ 15:38.88 Danish record from 2013 sitting 23rd on the all-time list. See below for the full list.

Her 8:12.76 to the feet tonight has only ever been bettered in the individual 800 free by two swimmers—Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh, with McIntosh ranking as the second-fastest performer in history at 8:09.86.

Assuming she qualifies at the U.S. World Championship Trials in June, Ledecky will head to Singapore in July aiming for her sixth world title in this event. She previously posted wins in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2022, and 2023. She withdrew from the 1500 at the 2019 Worlds due to illness and opted to skip Doha 2024, as many top swimmers did, due to its proximity to the Paris Olympics.

Texas’ Jillian Cox secured a comfortable 2nd-place finish with a career-best of 16:04.13, clipping her previous mark of 16:07.29 from last July’s TYR Pro Championships. She’s coming off an electric freshman season at the NCAA level, where she claimed national titles in both the 500 and 1650-yard freestyles. Her training partner and fellow Longhorn freshman Kate Hurst—the 2023 World Junior champion—rounded out the top three with a near-best time of 16:14.26, just off her personal standard of 16:09.37.

All-Time Performances, Women’s 1500 LCM Freestyle:

1. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:20.48 – 2018 Pro Swim Series – Indianapolis
2. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:24.51 — 2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale*
3. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:25.48 – 2015 World Championships
4. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:26.27 – 2023 World Championships
5. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:27.71 – 2015 World Championships (prelims)
6. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:28.36 – 2014 Pan Pacific Championships
7. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:29.51 – 2020 Pro Swim Series – Des Moines
8. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:29.64 – 2023 U.S. National Championships
9. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:30.02 – 2024 Olympic Games
10. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:30.15 – 2022 World Championships
11. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:31.82 – 2017 World Championships
12. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:34.23 – 2014 TWST Senior Invitational
13. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:35.35 – 2021 Olympic Games
14. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:35.65 – 2017 Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara
15. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:35.98 – 2019 U.S. Open
16. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:36.53 – 2013 World Championships
17. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:36.87 – 2025 Southern Zone South Sectionals
18. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:37.34 – 2021 Olympic Games
19. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:37.35 – 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials
20. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:37.99 – 2023 Pro Swim Series – Knoxville
21. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:38.25 – 2024 Atlanta Classic
22. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:38.81 – 2024 Pro Swim Series – Knoxville

Men’s 1500 Freestyle — Timed Final

• World Record: 14:30.67, Bobby Finke (2024)
• American Record: 14:30.67, Bobby Finke (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 14:40.28, Bobby Finke (2024)
• Junior World Record: 14:41.22, Kuzey Tuncelli (2024)
• Pro Swim Record: 14:53.12, Jordan Wilimovsky (2016)

Current Top 8:

1. Bobby Finke (SPA) – 14:54.49
2. Ryan Erisman (LAKR) – 15:20.47
3. Juan Vallmitjana (ESP) – 15:24.55
4. Luke Ellis (SAND) – 15:30.13
5. Gabriel Manteufel (SAND) – 15:34.88
6. Will Mulgrew (SAC) – 15:37.81
7. Jackson Irwin (SRQ) – 15:41.29
8. Lev Cherapanov (AZFL) – 15:41.86

Two-time reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Bobby Finke was the quickest 1500 freestyler in the pool tonight. The 25-year-old registered a time of 14:54.49, marking his third-ever in-season swim under 15 minutes. The Florida Gator dropped about four seconds from his previous season-best of 14:58.68, set in January.

For comparison’s sake, Finke was 15:05.96 in April last year and 14:58.08 in May, before going on to clock the world record in Paris (14:30.67). So, the Gator looks to be in a great spot heading into Trials in about a month’s time.

18-year-old Ryan Erisman of Laker Swim, a Cal commit, notched an effort of 15:20.47 for silver, completely obliterating his previous career best of 15:39.86 from July 2023. Spain’s Juan Vallmitjana touched the wall in 15:24.55 for 3rd.