US swim star Ledecky smashes her longstanding 800m freestyle world record
Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky shattered her near nine-year-old record in the 800m freestyle on Saturday, clocking 8min 04.12 to win at the Tyr Pro Swim Series meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Ledecky, 28, improved on the previous record of 8:04.79 that she set at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on 12 August, 2016.
KATIE. FREAKING. LEDECKY.
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) May 3, 2025
She just went 8:04.12 to BREAK HER OWN WORLD RECORD from the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 800-meter freestyle!#TYRProSeries pic.twitter.com/3goB3bctSF
It was Ledecky's first world record in a long-course 50m pool since 2018.
The performance capped a stellar week for Ledecky, who posted the second-fastest 1 500m free in history on Wednesday and swam the second-fastest 400m free of her career a day later.
Jillian Cox was second, 19.46sec back on 8:23.58. Claire Weinstein was third in 8:26.06.
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