A year away from the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Bethesda native and Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky seems to be hitting her stride.
Ledecky joined an elite club Tuesday night after dominating in the 800-meter freestyle at the U.S. nationals, sending her on her sixth trip to the world championships. Only Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin, Elizabeth Beisel, and Nathan Adrian have previously accomplished the feat of participating in the world championships six times.
The 26-year-old claimed victory at U.S. nationals with a time of 08:07:07, which is her third fastest time recorded in the 800-meter freestyle event. Behind Ledecky in second place was 17-year-old Jillian Cox, finishing at 08:20:28, a whopping 13 seconds behind Ledecky.
Ledecky’s showing at the U.S. nationals was also her fastest showing since her own world record time of 08:04:79 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Next month in Fukuoka, Japan, Ledecky will look to break more records at the world championships. She’s already the first swimmer to claim five consecutive titles. But, the bar is set even higher, attempting to be the first swimmer ever to win the same event six times.
KATIE. LEDECKY. 👑@katieledecky wins the 2023 national title in the women's 800m free by 13 SECONDS and clocks 8:07.07 for her third best time of ALL TIME in the event. 🤯 #Phillips66Nats pic.twitter.com/UM8hUCAdVL
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 28, 2023
