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Katie Ledecky set yet another world record on Saturday after posting a time of 15:08.24 in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the FINA Swimming World Cup in Toronto.
Ledecky beat the previous record, held by Sarah Wellbrock, by 9.77 seconds.
"I knew that record was within reach just based on some things I've done in training, especially my distance stuff [as it] has felt really good this fall," Ledecky said, per the Associated Press. "So I felt locked into the pace."
As noted by Braden Keith of SwimSwam, this marked her first-ever short-course 1,500-meter freestyle race. Ledecky nearly even took down another short-course record along the way:
She is already the long-course record holder for the 1,500-meter freestyle (15:20.48) and the 800-meter freestyle (8:04.79).
Ledecky dominated early on, per Keith, who noted that she was under the world-record pace by five seconds at the 600-meter mark.
The 25-year-old's impeccable resume also includes seven Olympic gold medals and three silver medals. She has notably won the 800-meter freestyle each of the past three Olympics.
Ledecky also owns 19 World Championship golds (long course) medals and three silvers.
The Soul Cap, which is designed specifically for natural Black hair, was officially approved by the International Swimming Federation, FINA, on Friday.
FINA executive director Brent Nowicki said approval of the swimming cap followed "a period of review and discussion on cap design between FINA and Soul Cap over the past year," he told the U.K.'s Metro.
Soul Cap said in a release on its website:
"For a long time, conventional swim caps have been an obstacle for swimmers with thick, curly, or volume-blessed hair. They canât always find a cap that fits their hair type, and that often means that swimmers from some backgrounds end up avoiding competitions, or giving up the sport entirely.
"We want to see swimming become an accessible sport, with equipment and swimwear that lets anyone get involved and see success.
"And this new approval by FINA is a huge step in the right directionâbringing inclusive swimwear into competitive swimming, and helping to bring down some of the obstacles that are keeping swimmers away from the sport."
At last year's Olympics, using the Soul Cap was not allowed by FINA. The worldwide governing body for competitive swimming said that there was no reason for the cap's use because swimmers "never used, neither require to use, caps of such size and configuration," per the Associated Press.
FINA also said that the Soul Cap didn't "[follow] the natural form of the head," a rule that is outlined in the organization's swimwear requirements.
In an interview with Sky Sports last year, Danielle Obe, chair of the Black Swimming Association, said that hair "is a significant barrier to aquatics forâwomen especiallyâmany people of colour from our communities" and that the Soul Cap should be approved to help "overcome" that barrier.
The Soul Cap's approval is a major step in the right direction, and one that will encourage people from all backgrounds to consider taking up competitive swimming. We should now be seeing its use at the next Olympics and other competitive events.
There's about to be a lot of excitement for swimming fans this weekend in the Land Down Under.
After a seven-year hiatus, Duel In The Pool, the head-to-head challenge that pits the United States against Australia, is back on Friday in Sydney.
Duel in the Pool goes back to 2003, at the height of the Michael Phelps era, and took place once every two years until 2015.
Now that the American and Aussie teams are back at the top of the sport, the three-day event has been resurrected by Swimming Australia and USA Swimming.
From Friday to Sunday, Bondi Beach and the pools at the Sydney Aquatic Centre will include a litany of unorthodox competitions featuring some of the world's best swimmers, including Aussies Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie OâCallaghan and USA competitors Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith on the women's side, as well as Caeleb Dressel (USA) and Kyle Chalmers (Australia).
Here's a quick look at how to watch and what fans can expect to see.
Duel in the Pool 2022
Date: Friday, August 19
Start Time: 9 a.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBCSports and USAswimming.org
Full Event Schedule
Day 1 - Friday
Mixed 4 x 800m Open Water Relay
Day 2 - Saturday
4x100m Mixed Medley Relay (2M, 2F) Traditional
Womenâs 400m Broken Freestyle
Menâs 100m Butterfly, Traditional
Mixed 4x50m MC Freestyle Relay (2M, 2F)
Womenâs 3x50m Butterfly, Skins
Menâs 100m Breaststroke, Traditional
Womenâs 50m Freestyle, Traditional
Womenâs 3x50m Breaststroke, Skins
Menâs 800m Broken Freestyle
Menâs 100m Freestyle, Traditional
MC 100m Freestyle, Staggered Starts
Womenâs 4x100m Medley Relay, Traditional
Menâs 3x50m Backstroke, Skins
Mixed MC/AB 4x50m Relay (2 S9, 2 AB)
Menâs 200m Individual Medley, Mystery
Womenâs 100m Backstroke, Traditional
Menâs 3x50m Freestyle, Skins
MC 3x50m Form-Stroke, Skins
Womenâs 200m Freestyle, Traditional
Mixed 4x50m Random Relay (2M 2F)
Day 3 - Sunday
Mixed 6x50m Freestyle Relay (1M, 2F) Swimming 2Ă50 each
Womenâs 800m Broken Freestyle
Menâs 200m Freestyle, Traditional
Mixed 4x100m MC Freestyle Relay (2M, 2F)
Womenâs 3x50m Freestyle, Skins
Menâs 3x50m Breaststroke, Skins
Womenâs 100m Butterfly, Traditional
Womenâs 3x50m Backstroke, Skins
Menâs 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Traditional
Menâs 100m Backstroke, Traditional
MC 3x50m Freestyle, Skins
Womenâs 100m Freestyle, Traditional
Menâs 400m Broken Freestyle
Menâs 50m Freestyle, Traditional
Womenâs 100m Breaststroke, Traditional
Menâs 3x50m Butterfly, Skins
MC 100m Form-Stroke
Womenâs 200m Individual Medley, Mystery
2x200m vs 4x100m Freestyle Random Relay (2M 2F)
Top Stars, Storylines, Predictions
The world of swimming is still abuzz with Romanian David Popovici's world-record performance in the 100-meter free with a time of 46.86 seconds and the 200-meter free with a time of one minute, 42.97 seconds.
Now that fans are vigorously paying attention to the sport, Duel in the Pool is next up, and there should be a lot to be excited about.
Popovici won't be on the marquee, but other stars, like McKeon, McKeown, OâCallaghan, Ledecky, Smith, Dressel and Chalmers, will be on hand to represent their country.
On the women's side, it looks as if Australia has the advantage, with Olympic gold medalists McKeon and McKeown in the pool.
It's a bit more evenly matched on the men's side, with the strength being the sprint team led by Michael Andrew.
Overall, there's a slight edge for the Aussies to win it because of the women and the fact that they're swimming in home waters.
The key is going to be how the respective coaches manage their stars in the race to keep them from burning out and getting through the various races, especially the âMysteryâ IM, in which the order of the strokes is determined at random prior to the start of the race.
No matter who ends the weekend with bragging rights, this should be a must-see event for swimming fans worldwide.
Romanian swimmer David Popovici, who is just 17 years old, broke the men's 100-meter freestyle world record Saturday at the 2022 European championships in Italy.
He is the youngest swimmer in history to break the record in the men's 100-meter freestyle.
"There was no rush, and I had to be extremely patient about the world record," Popovici said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "It has hurt, but it's always worth it and I feel fine right now. It felt great, and it's very special to break this record."
Popovici finished the race in 46.86 seconds to break the record of 46.91 seconds held by Brazil's CĂ©sar Cielo, who accomplished the feat at the 2009 World Championships, also held in Italy.
The Romanian beat second-place Hungarian KristĂłf MilĂĄk by 0.61 seconds. Alessandro Miressi of Italy finished third with a time of 47.63 seconds.
Popovici won gold in the men's 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle races earlier this year at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest. However, he was unable to compete against American Caeleb Dressel, who dropped out of the event for health reasons.
Dressel won five gold medals at last summer's Tokyo Olympics, including one in the 100-meter freestyle. The two are now on pace for an exciting clash at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Katie Ledecky and Team USA won gold in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday.
Ledecky teamed with Leah Smith, Claire Weinstein and Bella Sims as the United States won a medal at the event for a 10th consecutive world championships and gold for the fifth time in the past six world championships.
Australia took silver after winning gold at the last world championships in 2019, while Canada repeated as bronze medalists.
Here is how all eight nations fared in the final:
1. United States - 7:41.45
2. Australia - 7:43.86
3. Canada - 7:44.76
4. China - 7:45.72
5. Hungary - 7:57.90
6. Brazil - 7:58.38
7. New Zealand - 7:59.08
8. Japan - 8:00.03
While the United States fell short of a world record, its time was good for a world championships record, and Ledecky's 200-meter split of 1:53.6 seconds was the second-fastest in the history of the event.
Ledecky has won gold in each of the three events she has competed in at the 2022 world championships. She won individual gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle.
Wednesday's gold marks the 18th world championships gold medal of the 25-year-old phenom's career and her 21st world championships medal overall, both of which are records for a female swimmer.
Additionally, Ledecky is a seven-time gold medalist and three-time silver medalist across three Olympic Games.
While Ledecky won gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 world championships, as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics, the event had become a frustration for her.
Australia beat out Ledecky and the Americans for 4x200m gold at the 2019 world championships, and China defeated them at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Team USA employed a unique strategy Wednesday as veterans Smith and Ledecky swam the second and third legs, respectively, while Weinstein led off and Sims closed.
The United States trailed Canada when Ledecky entered the water thanks to a blistering pace set by 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, but Ledecky closed the gap and handed the lead to Sims.
Despite hot pursuit from the Aussies, Canadians and Chinese, Sims maintained the lead and closed out a golden moment for Team USA.
Ledecky has won four or more gold medals at the world championships three times and has a chance to accomplish that feat again.
Her opportunity will come Friday if, as expected, she makes it to the 800-meter freestyle final.
Katie Ledecky returned to her throne as the world champion in the 1,500-meter women's freestyle.
The 25-year-old captured gold Monday at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. With a final time of 15:30.15, she finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Grimes.
Ledecky cruised in qualifying for the final. She completed her heat in 15:47.02, the fastest overall time by 9.17 seconds.
The rest of the field didn't stand much of a chance when she held nothing back in the final. Grimes didn't even enter the frame on the broadcast until around five seconds after Ledecky touched the wall.
Ledecky's dominance in the 1,500-meter free is unparalleled. Not only does she hold the world record (15:20.48) in the event, but OlympicTalk noted she also has the 13 fastest times recorded.
With Monday's triumph, Ledecky is 2-for-2 in Budapest. She also won gold in the 400-meter freestyle Saturday. She was unable to avenge her runner-up finish to Australia's Ariarne Titmus in the 2021 Summer Olympics, though, as Titmus declined to make the trip to Budapest.
Ledecky is swimming in one more event: the 800-meter freestyle. She's the reigning world champion and will get her gold-medal defense underway during Thursday's qualifying heats. The final is scheduled for Friday.
The governing body of world swimming competitions, FINA, voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in women's events, via ESPN.
A vote by members of 152 national federations passed the resolution with about 71 percent majority, ruling that athletes must complete transitions by the age of 12 in order to participate in women's competitions.
FINA also created a working group to establish an "open" category in some events that would include transgender athletes.
The new ruling comes after Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA championship in March, finishing in first place in the 500-meter freestyle.
Thomas previously said she plans to compete for a spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics, with USA Swimming telling Robert Sanchez of Sports Illustrated it would have "no issue" with the University of Penn swimmer representing the country.
The only potential holdup was the lowered testosterone level required to compete in the women's division. The new ruling by the international governing body will seemingly now prevent Thomas from competing in major events.
The inclusion of transgender athletes has been a major talking point both inside and outside the swimming community.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar argued against Thomas' eligibility in the women's division.
"As an Olympic champion and as a civil rights lawyer, I can assure you that there is nothing fair about transgender woman Lia Thomas competing for the University of Pennsylvania in NCAA swimming," Hogshead-Makar wrote for Swimming World Magazine.
"Worse, her domination of the 'women's sports' category is doing nothing to engender greater empathy for inclusive practices throughout society for the trans community."
Current Team USA competitor Brooke Forde, who won an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo, defended Thomas.
"I believe that treating people with respect and dignity is more important than any trophy or record will ever be, which is why I will not have a problem racing against Lia at NCAAs this year," Forde said in a statement in January.
Thomas failed to medal in either the 200-meter freestyle or the 100-meter freestyle at the NCAA championships.
Ten-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky added another accolade to her resume Saturday, winning the 400-meter freestyle swim at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Ledecky finished the race in 3:58.15, giving her a fourth career gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the world championships, and a fifth medal overall in the event.
Summer McIntosh, a 15-year-old Canadian, took silver just over a second behind Ledecky, while Ledecky's American teammate Leah Smith won bronze.
Here is a full rundown of the finishers in Saturday's race, along with their times:
1. Katie Ledecky - 3:58.15
2. Summer McIntosh - 3:59.39
3. Leah Smith - 4:02.08
4. Lani Pallister - 4:02.16
5. Isabel Gose - 4:03.47
6. Erika Fairweather - 4:04.73
7. Kiah Melverton - 4:05.62
8. Muhan Tang - 4:10.70
Remarkably, Ledecky has now won 19 medals across five different world championships, 16 of which were gold.
The 25-year-old superstar also has seven gold medals out of 10 total medals at the Olympics, including gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
While Ledecky was once the unquestioned dominant force in the 400m, that has changed in recent years following the emergence of Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who won gold in the event at both the 2019 world championships and 2020 Summer Olympics with Ledecky finishing second each time.
Ledecky lost by less than a second at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, setting her on a path to attempt to reclaim her place atop the 400m mountain.
The path to world championship gold was made much clearer and easier for Ledecky when the 21-year-old Titmus decided against competing at the world championships.
Earlier Saturday, Ledecky established herself as the clear favorite for gold by posting a time of 3:59.79 in heats, which was over three seconds better than McIntosh, who posted the second-best time at 4:03.19.
With a gold medal already in her back pocket after just one day of action in the books, Ledecky will set her sights on the 800-meter freestyle, 1,500-meter freestyle and 4x200-meter freestyle relay.
Ledecky is the heavy favorite for gold in the 800m and 1,500m, and she has a legitimate shot at gold in the relay as well after taking silver in the event at the 2019 world championships and 2020 Olympics.
Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky is giving back to the next generation of swimmers.
Ledecky will join the Florida Gators swimming and diving staff as a volunteer swim coach, per an announcement Wednesday.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest female swimmers of all-time, Ledecky holds 15 world championships and is a 14-time world-record breaker in the 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyles. She also has three Olympic silver medals, making her one of seven female swimmers to earn 10 Olympic medals in her career.
Ledecky's six individual gold medals are the most of any female Olympic swimmer and American female Olympian. Michael Phelps is the only swimmer with more individual gold medals with 13.
Ledecky, who completed her college degree this year, announced that she will be moving her training from Stanford to the University of Florida to be closer to her family. She also has her eyes on future competitions.
"I've decided to train at the University of Florida with Coach Anthony Nesty and the outstanding mid-distance and distance training group there," Ledecky wrote in her statement. "I'm looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the next phase of my swimming career."
Bobby Finke, who won two gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics, also trains with Nesty and his team.
At 24 years old, Ledecky does not plan on retiring anytime soon. She indicated that she intends on participating in the 2024 Olympics in Paris and possibly also the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"That was not my last swim," Ledecky said after winning the 800-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics. "I'm at least going to '24, maybe '28. ... You never take anything for granted. You never know if you're going to be at the next Olympics."
