WATCH: Katie Ledecky Hits 3:56.81 400 Free, Her Fastest in Nearly 9 Years (Day 2 Race Videos)

2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale

• Wednesday, April 30 – Saturday, May 3, 2025
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Didn’t catch last night’s action from the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series? No worries, if you weren’t able to tune in, we’ve got you covered with some of the races videos, courtesy of “USA Swimming” and “NBC Sports” on YouTube.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Final

• World Record: 51.71 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2017)
• World Junior Record: 52.70 – Penny Oleksiak, CAN (2016)
• American Record: 52.04 – Simone Manuel (2019)
• U.S. Open Record: 52.54 – Simone Manuel, USA (2016)
• Pro Swim Record: 52.74 – Siobhan Haughey, HKG (2024)

Top 8: 

1. Gretchen Walsh (NYAC) — 52.90
2. Torri Huske (AAC) — 52.95
3. Kate Douglass (NYAC) — 53.61
4. Rylee Erisman (LAKR) — 53.78
5. Penny Oleksiak (CAN) — 53.89
6. Simone Manuel (TXLA) — 53.99
7. Sarah Fournier (CHI) — 54.96
8. Erin Gemmell (TXLA) — 55.11

Gretchen Walsh was out like a shot in the the women’s 100 freestyle, turning at the 50-meter mark in 25.22. Torri Huske flipped second .41 behind Walsh. The Paris Olympic silver medalist in this event, Huske charged over the final 50, coming home in a field best 27.32.

Huske just ran out of room to pull even with Walsh, who put up a 27.68 back half to get her hand on the wall first. She touched in a lifetime best 52.90 and the first sub-53 second swim of her career. Her previous lifetime best stood at 53.04 from the Paris Games.

Walsh and Huske now shoot to the top of the world rankings this season. With Huske getting her hand on the wall five-hundredths behind Walsh in 52.95, they are the only two women to break 53 seconds so far this season as Sara Curtis previously held the world #1 in 53.01.

Out of lane eight, Kate Douglass took third in 53.61. She has a quick turnaround for the women’s 100 breaststroke final.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Final

• World Record: 46.40 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• World Junior Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• American Record: 46.96 – Caeleb Dressel (2019)
• U.S. Open Record: 47.08 – Jack Alexy, USA (2024)
• Pro Swim Record: 48.00 – Nathan Adrian, USA (2016)

Top 8: 

1. Shane Casas (TXLA) — 48.47
2. Chris Guiliano (TXLA) — 48.49
3. Tomas Navikonis (OSU) — 48.65
4. Mikel Schreuders (SUN) — 48.74
5. Tomas Lukminas (FORD) — 49.03
6. Julian Koch (PITT) — 49.06
7. Luke Hobson (TXLA) — 49.09
8. Carson Foster (RAYS) — 49.22

Shaine Casas led the men’s 100 free from start to finish, as Walsh did. Casas was out in 23.01, leading fellow Longhorn Chris Guiliano by .12 and Sun Devil pro Mikel Schreuders by .15 in lane eight.

Guiliano made a move over the back half of the race, splitting 25.36 and pulling even with Casas as the pair barreled towards the finish. Casas stopped the clock in 48.47, two-hundredths ahead of Guiliano to pick up a win in his first event of the night. It’s slightly off the season-best 48.31 he swam in March at the Westmont Pro Swim Series.

Behind the Longhorn pair, Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis took bronze in 48.65. He swam a lifetime best 48.58 to qualify 1st for the final.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Final

• World Record: 2:01.81 – Liu Zige, CHN (2009)
• World Junior Record: 2:03.03 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2024)
• American Record: 2:03.84 – Regan Smith (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 2:03.87 – Regan Smith, USA (2023)
• Pro Swim Record: 2:04.00 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2025)

Top 8:

1. Regan Smith (TXLA) — 2:05.38
2. Alex Shackell (CSC) — 2:06.13
3. Audrey Derivaux (JW) — 2:06.46
4. Helena Rosendahl Bach (DEN) — 2:08.02
5. Ellen Walshe (TMP) — 2:09.13
6. Caroline Bricker (ALTO) — 2:09.39
7. Tess Howley (UN-VA) — 2:10.05
8. Katie Grimes (UN-VA) — 2:10.08

Smith completed her double this session with a win in the women’s 200 butterfly. She led the race from wire-to-wire, tough it was closer between her and the teenage pair of Shackell and Derivaux than that would suggest.

Smith was out in 27.76 at the 50, then made the halfway turn in 59.63, leading her Shackell, her fellow American 200 flyer at the Paris Games, by .26 seconds. The 15-year-old Derivaux hadn’t let the U.S. Olympians get too far away, turning in 1:00.17 at the halfway mark.

Shackell and Derivaux both closed on Smith over the third 50. Shackell narrowed her deficit to Smith to just five-hundredths with a 32.55 split and Derivaux split 32.31 to hit the final turn nine-hundredths behind Smith. The American record holder turned it on over the final 50, splitting 32.99 to build her lead up again.

Smith touched the wall in 2:05.38, improving on her second-fastest time in the world this season behind McIntosh. Shackell clocked a 2:06.13 for silver, just three-hundredths off her lifetime best.

Derivaux posted a huge lifetime best of 2:06.46, improving on the 2:07.70 she swam last August by 1.24 seconds. The time moves her up to #2 in her 15-16 age group among U.S. girls.

Women’s 400 Freestyle – Final

• World Record: 3:55.38 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2023)
• World Junior Record: 3:56.08 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• American Record: 3:56.46 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
• U.S. Open Record: 3:57.94 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• Pro Swim Record: 3:57.94 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)

Top 8:

1. Katie Ledecky (GSC) — 3:56.81 *U.S. Open Record, PSS Record* 
2. Summer McIntosh (SYS) — 3:58.28
3. Claire Weinstein (SAND) — 4:01.26
4. Jillian Cox (TXLA) — 4:08.61
5. Emma Weyant (FLOR) — 4:09.75
6. Erin Gemmell (TXLA) — 4:11.10
7. Cavan Gormsen (UN-VA) — 4:11.44
8. Madi Mintenko (PPA) — 4:14.41

“I don’t know if I ever thought I would be 3:56 again,” Ledecky said in her post-race interview, fresh from swimming a U.S. Open and Pro Swim Series record of 3:56.81. It’s the second-fastest swim of her career, the same as the 1500 free she put up last night, and her second time swimming 3:56 as she came just .35 from the American record she swam at the 2016 Olympics.

Ledecky powered into the lead on the final 50 of the race. She spent the back half of the race tracking down Summer McIntosh. The teenager jumped on the race from the start, taking it out under world record pace. McIntosh flew through the first half of the race, turning at the 100 in 56.92, .46 under world record pace. She continued to build her lead on Titmus’ record pace over the next 150. She made the halfway turn in 1:56.17, then was 1.07 seconds under the world record at the 250-meter mark.

Ledecky and the world record line began to out-split McIntosh after that. She narrowed McIntosh’s lead to .85 with 100 to go, then flipped only .18 behind the Canadian phenom with 50 to go.

Ledecky closed in a speedy 29.50–the fastest in the field–to break the U.S. Open record. She improves her world leading time this season while McIntosh slots in at #2 after touching in 3:58.28.

While all eyes were on the race between Ledecky and McIntosh, Claire Weinstein quietly shattered her lifetime best with a 4:01.26. That breaks her former lifetime best of 4:04.54 by 3.28 seconds, moving her from 10th to 3rd on the all-time American performers list.