Saturday at the Pro Swim Sees More Individual Swimming World Records than Paris Olympics

While the American men are still seeking the rocks that will carry them forward to the Los Angeles Olympic Games, the American women sent a thunderous message to the world on Saturday at the Pro Swim Series stop in Ft. Lauderdale.

The three individual World Records set in one day alone in Ft. Lauderdale is more than the two individual World Records that were set in swimming at the Paris Olympic Games last summer – where the temporary pool in La Defense will never beat the slow pool allegations.

First, in prelims at a high level, but non-selection, meet, Gretchen Walsh shaved a tenth off her own World Record in the 100 fly, swimming a 55.09.

Race Video:

Then, in the fastest heats of the women’s 800 free, the greatest female swimmer of all time, Katie Ledecky, won by more than 19 seconds and took .67 off her own World Record, touching in 8:04.12. That concluded a rejuvenated performance for her where she swam 3:56.81 in the 400 free, her fastest time in nearly 9 years, and 15:24.51 in the 1500 free, the #2 swim in history.

Roughly a decade past when the world’s best female distance swimmers have historically peaked, this was not only a history-making swim because it was a World Record, but it was a paradigm-shifting swim about what age swimmers of her specialty peak at. The 400 free swim seemed to be a pressure release for her, after which she roared to this new World Record.

Race Video:

Then Regan Smith went only a 57.46 in the 100 back, the 7th-fastest performance in history and 2nd-fastest swim outside of an Olympic Trials or Olympic Games meet (57.33 – Kaylee McKeown – 2023 World Cup).

Race Video:

And the cherry on top, a whopping 54.60 from Walsh in the 100 fly final – the first woman under 55 seconds in the event and a huge World Record swim. That left her with a gap of .88 seconds to the next-fastest swimmer, Sarah Sjostrom at 55.48.

That gap, incidentally, is bigger than the .81 seconds gap between #1 Adam Peaty (56.88) and #2 Qin Haiyang (57.69) in the 100 breaststroke, which recently has been the standard of 100 meter World Record dominance.

Race Video:

While records of this sort are unexpected at this timing – both Walsh and Ledecky have a history of being fast in season.

That is now Ledecky’s 16th career individual World Record swim, and her last one came nearly seven years ago, on May 16, 2018 at the Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis.

For a Pro Swim Series that has been gradually waning in importance and performance, Saturday was a banner day, one of the best and most-unexpected that the series has ever seen. While the American men still have a lot of questions to answer, the women are now well on their way to the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

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SwimmingGuru
20 days ago

What happened to Summer McIntosh at this meet? Looks like she withdrew?

Scott Bonney
20 days ago

Is the LA Olympic Swimming in 2028 going to be at an outdoor venue ?

Khase Calisz
Reply to  Scott Bonney
19 days ago

Sofi stadium

David
20 days ago

Was there any drug testing at this évent ledecky was nowhere near those times during olympic year when athlètes are tested often

Autumn
Reply to  David
19 days ago

Big difference in her 400 free in Paris vs her 400 free this meet. At 28 yr old, it is unusual.

AT-AT
Reply to  Autumn
19 days ago

I think while this is extraordinary for swimming, women don’t hit their endurance peak until their 30s in many other sports. Taylor Knibb is considered a young triathlete at 27. While Ledecky is obviously one of a kind, this could also represent a shift in swimming training that allows women to perform at a high level for longer in a way that they already do in other sports

Khase Calisz
Reply to  David
19 days ago

Ok Brett

Ricky C
Reply to  David
19 days ago

That’s wild bro accusing Katie Ledecky of all people of cheating

Bull Puoy
20 days ago

The entire swimming community, myself included, spent the month of April in “Woe is Me” land. We wondered to ourselves how interest in our beloved sport would survive, how we could find a way to increase engagement in swimming. How we would be able to turn people’s heads here in the USA, grab clicks, grab the attention. We discussed strategy. We dissected college athletics and club level swimming. And, well, in a slight time of need… two of our most trusted names in the sport have delivered, a bit outside of the box, a bit unexpected at this time of year, and have revitalized the swimming community. You want to increase attention to the sport of swimming and excite the… Read more »

Swim mom
Reply to  Bull Puoy
19 days ago

such a shame that it was not broadcasted.

jpm49
20 days ago

Surprisingly, in my head, I tend to add to all these magnificent world records, the aborted one in the 400m freestyle, so much did we believe in it until the 300m. No, today, there were 3 world records in Fort Lauderdale and not four, and they are perfectly impressive, while waiting for Summer McIntosh to go under 3:55, soon perhaps, one day certainly to join them a little later.

Emma Eckeon
20 days ago

Ledecky did WRs in short course after 2018, in the 800 and 1500.

Steve Nolan
20 days ago

Ok this is where my most hated take – counting number of WRs after a meet by total occurrences, not events where the record was broken – confuses the hell out of me.

“What third swimmer broke a different event?? Did I miss one??” I quickly think before remembering Walsh did it twice.

Which like, technically yes – and give her two checks!! – but it still makes me grumpy.

Truth Teller
20 days ago

USA swimming should look at why this is and fix it for 2028 so we peak at the Olympics

Does the timing of trials and Olympics need adjustment

Are sleep and nutrition substandard at
The village

Was it a pool issue? Was Paris that slow?

We’re are athletes loose at TYR and tight at the Olympics? If so,
Is there a sports psychologist who can help?

Was it a time zone effect?

Is a 9 day meet too long to keep peak performance?

Gretchen and Katie just swam incredible. Regan swam a world leading 100 back and it’s
An afterthought

Let’s figure out how to bottle this magic and unleash it on the world in LA

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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