Ledecky Chooses 400 IM/200 Free Double Instead of 1650 Free at Pac-12s

2017 WOMEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

While swimming fans wondered if Stanford’s Katie Ledecky would swim the 400 IM or 200 free on day 3 of the 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, Ledecky and Coach Greg Meehan had another thing in mind. Ledecky opted to swim the 400 IM and 200 free double on Friday, meaning she won’t be swimming as a scorer in her signature 1650 freestyle on Saturday.

Interestingly, Ledecky was almost certain to win the mile, while she has stiff competition in both the 400 IM and 200 free. In the 400 IM, she’ll be up against teammates Ella Eastin, the defending NCAA champ, and Allie Szekely, who blasted a 4:02 this morning. Shortly after that race, she’ll have to race teammate Simone Manuel in the 200 free.

Only the 100 fly separates the 2 events during tonight’s finals session, but Ledecky hasn’t had too much trouble throwing down multiple fast performances with a short break in the past. If you need a refresher, think back to her 1500 free final/200 free semifinal double in Kazan. We’ll have to wait and see if she has enough in the tank to chase down Manuel, though, as Manuel definitely has the speed to win this race, and was as fast as 1:41.53 this morning.

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Jim C
7 years ago

I was surprised by how strong a time Ledecky put up on the breaststroke. She was 2 s faster than Becca Mann on the freestyle–but 5 s faster on the breaststroke.

Dan
7 years ago

When are awards? 2 award ceremonies will add some time between events. Depending of the order of finals, that could be some extra time, A,B,C or C,B,A
Still very hard but an extra 5-15 min could not hurt.

M Palota
7 years ago

Chuck Norris was gonna swim the 200 free / 400 IM double but Katie Ledecky gave him that look…

SwimGeek
7 years ago

Unreal. I guess she’s getting ready for that 1500/ 200 semi at Worlds this summer.
Only the 100 fly separates these two events. So she’s goes 4IM and then has about 10-15 min before racing 2 free tonight? Watch her win both.

Wahooswimfan
7 years ago

and Katie Drabot is entered with NT, so she may well (based on her 500 swim) win from an early heat (ala Leah Smith at ACC’s). Kinda makes for an anticlimactic evening when you watch what has essentially become one of the slow heats swim at night.

JONATHAN W WASHBURN
7 years ago

Katie Ledecky can swim ANYTHING she wants. She has earned it.

NC Swim Fan
7 years ago

Likely trying to determine her 3rd event at NCAA’s. Nice that her main competition in both are her own teammates so she has that luxury.

Tea rex
7 years ago

Now this is just ridiculous

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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