Katie Ledecky Breaks 15mins for 1650y free At Eponymous Meet
"It's a neat, full-circle moment to have the honour of this meet named after me. It was always a lot of fun - right before the holidays. I remember everyone wearing Santa hats on the deck, just a very festive swim meet that I have so many great memories of." - Katie Ledecky
The Nation’s Capital Invitational was renamed the Katie Ledecky Invitational earlier his year. The legend lived up to the billing today in the 16509 yards free at the University of Maryland: 14:59.62.
That's the first sub-15 for a woman over the distance, her previous mark and American record having stood at 15:01.41 since 2023. Only Americans and those who train at U.S college swim yards. In Ledecky's case, one might say 'so what', given her dominance over 30 or 60 lengths, in pools of 25 or 50m, in yards or any other measure you might throw at her.
A reminder:
The SOS pick for Race of the Year 2025, settled back in August:
Craig Lord
Ledecky's Latest Pioneering Pace:
- 25.40; 27.44; 27.56; 27.49; 27.48; 27.29; 27.24; 27.39; 27.39; 27.28 (4:31.96 at 500y)
- 27.16; 27.12; 27.11; 27.09; 27.16; 27.24; 27.08; 27.32; 27.28; 27.49 (9:04.01, 1,000; 4:32.05, 2nd 500)
- 27.38; 27.38; 27.51; 27.55; 27.34; 27.37; 27.52; 27.58; 27.50; 27.66 (13:38.80, 1,500 – 4:34.79 3rd 500)
- Last 150 yards: 27.42; 27.28; 26.12 - 14:59.62 AR
In an interview with Dave Sheinin at the Washington Post, heading into the meet, we're reminded of this:
Twenty years ago this week, a precocious 8-year-old from Bethesda finished 28th out of 36 entrants in the 10-and-under girls' 50-yard freestyle at the Tom Dolan Invitational, the biggest meet to that point of her nascent swimming career. The question of whether Katie Ledecky celebrated afterward with a bag of Skittles from the snack bar, or perhaps was talked into an apple, is lost to posterity.
This weekend, 20 years and 14 Olympic medals later, Ledecky, now 28, is coming home to compete in the same year-ending meet, which now bears her name. When she climbs the starting blocks for Sunday's 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day of the Katie Ledecky Invitational at the University of Maryland, she will do so as the most decorated female swimmer and American woman in Olympic history.
On having a meet she competed at every year between the ages of 8 and 18 named after her, Ledecky, 26, says:
"It's a neat, full-circle moment to have the honour of this meet named after me. It was always a lot of fun - right before the holidays. I remember everyone wearing Santa hats on the deck, just a very festive swim meet that I have so many great memories of."
Looking back on her latest stellar season, in 2025, Ledecky says:
"It was a great year. I have a big smile on my face thinking about how much fun it was to swim some of those times and have some of those results at worlds … I was going some of my best times in years, but my competitors were all going faster times as well. It just raised the level of the sport, with all of us going these really fast times together."
When Sheinin suggests that the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are in the far distance, Ledecky replies: "Not that far off. To me, it's right around the corner."
All being well, they'll be her fifth and "possibly" last Games. No decision yet. Wise.
The 800m free would be her last Olympic race, as the last gold on the LA2028 program. She's won it at all Games since 2012, aged 15. That's a record four: a fifth straight crown would make history, women's and men's: no swimmer, not even Michael Phelps, has ever won more than four golds in the same event, only he and she having reached four.
The program is, through no fault of Ledecky's, controversial. There's nothing anyone can do about Lani Pallister or whoever else may come along to challenge, but the other great contender, Summer McIntosh, of Canada, has been dealt a bum card: the defence of her 200m 'fly final is immediately before the 800m free final. Why World Aquatics should look again:
Craig Lord
It would be a shame to have blazers place an asterisk on the result of the 800m free in LA long before the gun goes off. Ledecky needs no helping hand, nor does she ask for one. And as she notes in the Post piece:
"I'm excited about the future of USA Swimming, both from the swimming standpoint and the out-of-the-pool stuff. I think we have some good leaders in place. We all know it's an exciting time over these next few years [entering LA2028]. We've got to get it right, and I think we're all motivated to support that mission and support USA Swimming. We all want to see the sport grow, and we have that opportunity with L.A. We don't want it to go to waste."
