U.S. Swimming Trials: Ledecky Reaches Olympics, Walsh Sets Record

Jun 15, 2024, 08:37 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS — Katie Ledecky is headed to her fourth Olympics, an accomplishment that seemed unimaginable when she was a 15-year-old in London.

These days, it wouldn't feel like the Summer Games without her.

As steady as ever, Ledecky took victory in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. Swimming Trials on Saturday night, where earlier Gretchen Walsh had set a world record in the 100 fly.

Ledecky makes qualifying for the Olympics look much easier than it is. Ledecky became the ninth American swimmer to qualify for the sport's biggest stage at least four times.

“I’m proud of that consistency,” she said. “Sometimes it can be hard to feel like you're not making progress. But being really consistent is something I'm really happy with. I've learned to really enjoy training and enjoying the moment.”

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Cheered on by a crowd of 20,689 at the home of the Indianapolis Colts, Ledecky touched the temporary pool wall in 3 minutes, 58.35 seconds.

She improved her time to 3:59.99 in the morning preliminaries and prepared to try for another gold medal against a loaded field at the Paris Games.

Australian “Terminator”, Ariarne Titmus, is the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400 freestyle. Canadian phenomenon Summer McIntosh is also expected to fight for the top spot on the podium.

In Tokyo, Ledecky settled for the silver medal behind Titmus – the first individual defeat of the American's Olympic career.

She will also have her work cut out for her in Paris.

Titmus is coming off an Australian Trials where she broke the world record in the 200 free and narrowly missed her own mark in the 400 free, winning with a time of 3:55.44 – almost 3 seconds faster than the pace from Ledecky to Indianapolis.

“It’s going to be a big field,” Ledecky said. “I've always done a pretty solid job between trials and matches to be faster in matches. The goal is no different this time. Hopefully this will put me in a good position in the 400 m.”

Ledecky, 27, is scheduled to swim four events at his country's national trials, all freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters. She already has six individual gold medals – more than any swimmer in Olympic history – and a total of 10 medals, seven of which are gold.

“I never thought I would make it,” Ledecky said, remembering his Olympic debut at the London Games in 2012. “I never dreamed of this when I was young.”

Katie Ledecky became just the ninth American swimmer to qualify for the sport's biggest stage at least four times. AP Photo/Michael Conroy

After winning a surprising gold medal in her only event, the 800 freestyle, Ledecky was determined to reach greater heights.

“I wanted to get back to that level, to prove that I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder,” she said. “But at the same time, I reminded myself that anything beyond that is like the icing on the cake, the icing on the cake.”

This makes him appreciate a fourth trip to the Olympics even more.

Then there's Aaron Shackell, a local favorite from suburban Carmel, who will be heading to the Olympics for the first time after winning the men's 400 freestyle.

Shackell touched in 3:45.46 to hold off Kieran Smith, bronze medalist in this event at the Tokyo Olympics. Smith used a powerful finishing kick to claim second place in 3:45.76, which should be enough to get him back to the Summer Games.

The top two finishers in each individual event should make up the powerful American team, which also bodes well for Paige Madden, runner-up to Ledecky in 4:02.08.

Both Ledecky and Shackell were upstaged on the opening night of the trials by Walsh, the 21-year-old from the University of Virginia who set the world record for the 100 fly in a semifinal with a time of 55.18.

Walsh was more than half a second under the world record at the turn and finished strongly to eclipse the mark of 55.48 set by Sweden's Sarah Sjstrm at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“There was a little buzz there,” Walsh said. “I think before tonight, you know, I knew it was going to take a (55) point-4 or I guess a point-5, but I didn't think I was going to do it tonight. I just knew that I wanted to do it. I'm going fast and here I am now — world record holder.”

Walsh held her hand over her mouth as she stared in disbelief at the scoreboard, a “WR” next to her name. But she still has work to do to make her first Olympic team.

Sunday night's 100 fly final also features Torri Huske, Regan Smith and Claire Curzan, all medalists at the Tokyo Games. Shackell's sister, Alex, also qualified for the final and will look to join her brother on the Olympic team.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/40359688/walsh-sets-100-meter-fly-record-us-olympic-swim-trials The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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