Katie Ledecky 1500m Free World Championships Post Race Interview

Swimming video is courtesy of Universal Sports Network, a SwimSwam partner. Video can only be seen by US viewers.

SWIMSWAM REPORT

Katie Ledecky of the United States put on an incredible performance to take yet another chunk off her own 1500m freestyle world record and take home her second gold medal of these World Championships.

With a big push at the end, Ledecky touched in at 15:25.48 to take over two seconds off her newly-established world record of 15:27.71 that she set in prelims earlier in the meet.

Below are a comparison of Ledecky’s prelims and finals splits (both world record performances): 

Ledecky took the race out hard as she usually does, going under world record pace right from the get go. At the 400m mark, Ledecky turned in 4:04.89, a time that would have finished sixth in the individual 400m freestyle final.

Moving forward, Ledecky continued to bring the heat, turning in 8:13.25 to go well under her own record pace. That 800-split for Ledecky is faster than any indvidual 800 anyone besides Ledecky has ever swum before. Ledecky closed strong to win the race by an incredible 14.66 seconds over New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle.

With that win Ledecky is still currently undefeated in major international competition. She also now holds all of the top five 1500m freestyle performances of all time.

Ledecky’s world record on Tuesday night just goes to show how she has developed over the past few years. Just two years ago at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Ledecky won the 1500m freestyle in 15:36.53 to break the previous world record and take home the gold.

In 2013 she had Danish swimmer Lotte Friis on her tail, who managed to touch in just behind her in 15:38.88. This time around, Ledecky was all alone start to finish and 11 seconds faster than she was just two years earlier.

Friis’ 2013 performance makes her the second best performer ever in the event, and she’s still over 13 seconds slower than Ledecky’s new world record swim.