Ledecky not satisfied despite 400m win
Ledecky Katie Ledecky easily won the 400m breaststroke at the US Swimming Championships on Friday, but the US grand champion knows she has to do more for the title at next month’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan “It wasn’t great,” sighed Ledecky after 4 minutes 0.45 seconds to win the title in Indianapolis, Indiana.
At the Olympics in Rio 2016, he set a world record with 3:56.46. Since then, Australian Ariarne Titmus has upset Ledecky for the 2019 world championships and overtaken her in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic final. Titmus lowered the world record, as did Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh with her time of 3:56.08 in March.
With Titmus clocking 3:58.47 at the Australian trials this month, Ledecky was clearly unhappy with his time, but not disheartened. “You can learn from so many things,” said the seven-time Olympic gold medalist and owner of 19 world championship titles. “So I’ll try to learn as much as I can and I’ll be better in a few weeks.”
Ledecky, who opened the week with her fastest 800-meter free time since 2016, said she felt her rhythm was off. As Fukuoka approaches, he’ll focus on “making sure I’m ready to go when I’m diving and building during the race.” Ledecky was still nearly three seconds ahead of runner-up Bella Sims, whose time of 4:03.25 was more than three seconds off the best, making the 18-year-old the seventh-fastest player in the world this year.
“I have some gas left,” King said. “It felt good. If I don’t take it like an idiot, it’s something new for me.” Nic Fink won the men’s 100m breaststroke in 58.36, second fastest in the world this season and 84 hundredths ahead of Josh Matheny. David Johnston won the men’s 400m freestyle ahead of Kieran Smith in 3:45.75.
Published in EDP BLOGS on Jul 1,2023.
