HardCore Swim of the Week: Another mind-boggling record-smash from Katie Ledecky

Last weekend was a pretty big one for swimming at a lot of levels. It was a hotbed of big-atmosphere high school meets and various state championships. It was the final big dual meet push for most collegiate teams. And across the globe there were big meets in Luxembourg and Ontario with some well-known international names.

Yet out of all those competitions, there was really only one swim that could legitimately be the HardCore Swim of the Week, and it came from prelims of a simple high school meet in Washington D.C. In a weekend chock full of outstanding swimming, Katie Ledecky’s new American record in the 500 yard freestyle is in entirely its own category of HardCore.

The time was 4:28.71. Yes, it’s a short-course yards race that might have little bearing outside of the United States, no, it’s not Ledecky’s first American record and no, it might not even be the most impressive swim of her young career (she’s got plenty of races to choose from in that category). But even considering all that, this is a jaw-droppingly impressive swim, one that’s caused multiple swimmers, fantastic talents themselves, to do a double-take in amazement when they heard about it.

Some numbers might help us put the race into a little more of its impressive context:

• 2.67 – the number of seconds Ledecky cropped off her previous lifetime-best (already a NAG and National High School record) with the swim
• 27 – the number of seconds she won the race by in the preliminaries
• 1.76 – the number of seconds she chopped off the previous American record, set back in 2007 in the tech suit era by Katie Hoff
• 4 – the number of records she broke in that one swim: the American record, the 15-16 NAG record, the meet record and the national high school record. To be fair, she already owned the latter three
• 1:44.97 – what Ledecky was out in to the 200. That time would have won the open 200 at the meet by nearly five seconds and would rank her within the top 15 in the women’s NCAA this year
• 8 – the number of college men in the NCAA’s Division I who went a faster 500 time than Ledecky in the same calendar week

And one more that’s somehow easy to forget:

• 16 – Ledecky’s age

What she’s accomplished in her career already dwarfs the very most a vast majority of swimmers could ever dream of. Olympic gold, world records, international accolades, and Ledecky is barely old enough to own a driver’s license. With her tendency to not just break records by absolutely annihilate them, it’s hard to find another swimmer who exemplifies HardCore quite like Katie Ledecky.

There’s no telling where her career could go from here. But if the past is any indicator, this is a swimmer you won’t want to take your eyes off of.

About HardCoreSwim

Founded on the pool decks of Southern California, HARDCORESWIM examines and explores the ethos of the hardcore swimmer. HARDCORESWIM is an authentic and innovative designer, marketer and manufacturer of premium quality men’s and women’s swimsuits, Custom Team Swim Suits, training gear, clothing, accessories and related products. Our true, authentic, innovative, iconoclastic, and creative style differentiates us from the bland competitive swim industry and gives us reason to be. All made in the USA. Check us out at www.hardcoreswim.com or find us at www.facebook.com/hardcoreswim .

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