There was a multitude of different swimmers during the women’s 400 free in Duna Arena, Budapest. You can see their achievements through hard work or the new rising stars in the lanes. Despite all of this, Katie Ledecky only focused on her own goals and didn’t care about others and, as a result, won the Gold.
She had broken her goal of her best times and swam 3:58:15 in the 400 free. Despite not breaking her rival’s world record of 3:56:40, Ledecky was happy as she broke her meet record in 2017 and stated: “It’s the fastest I’ve ever been at worlds, so I’m really happy with that and really excited about the rest of the [meet]. I’m just always trying to improve … We kind of set out this year [without] setting any time goals, just trying to improve each meet, and so far I’ve done that, so that’s pretty good.” Ledecky will swim the 800 free, 1500 free, and 4×200 free relay soon after.
Although Ledecky had swam her best at the FINA World Championships, she had not swum with her longtime rival Ariarne Titmus who had broken Ledecky’s 2017 meet record and world record. Ariarne Titmus had not participated in the FINA World Championships simply because she didn’t want to. Many swimming fans were highly disappointed due to how Titmus had beaten Ledecky during the 2022 Olympics. Many fans were hoping for Ledecky to claim the world record title back, but since Titmus has not shown up, fans are now expecting the great showdown at a later meeting.
Although her rival had not arrived to the FINA World Championships, A new one emerged from the pool. In the 400 free, Summer McIntosh had pushed ahead and raced Ledecky to the finish line. She swam a time of 3:59:39, winning silver and becoming the fourth female in history to swim under 4 minutes, placing along with previous winners Ledecky, Titmus, and Pellegrini.
Ledecky, in a later comment, said “I was a little nervous. [McIntosh] hung in there the whole time, so she definitely pushed me a lot,” Ledecky said. “… Summer is now in the sub-four-minute club, so it’s only going to get harder these races. So I know I have my work cut out for me. It’s a good steppingstone here, to just kind of have a baseline for the next couple of years moving [toward] Paris.
She had broken her goal of her best times and swam 3:58:15 in the 400 free. Despite not breaking her rival’s world record of 3:56:40, Ledecky was happy as she broke her meet record in 2017 and stated: “It’s the fastest I’ve ever been at worlds, so I’m really happy with that and really excited about the rest of the [meet]. I’m just always trying to improve … We kind of set out this year [without] setting any time goals, just trying to improve each meet, and so far I’ve done that, so that’s pretty good.” Ledecky will swim the 800 free, 1500 free, and 4×200 free relay soon after.
Although Ledecky had swam her best at the FINA World Championships, she had not swum with her longtime rival Ariarne Titmus who had broken Ledecky’s 2017 meet record and world record. Ariarne Titmus had not participated in the FINA World Championships simply because she didn’t want to. Many swimming fans were highly disappointed due to how Titmus had beaten Ledecky during the 2022 Olympics. Many fans were hoping for Ledecky to claim the world record title back, but since Titmus has not shown up, fans are now expecting the great showdown at a later meeting.
Although her rival had not arrived to the FINA World Championships, A new one emerged from the pool. In the 400 free, Summer McIntosh had pushed ahead and raced Ledecky to the finish line. She swam a time of 3:59:39, winning silver and becoming the fourth female in history to swim under 4 minutes, placing along with previous winners Ledecky, Titmus, and Pellegrini.
Ledecky, in a later comment, said “I was a little nervous. [McIntosh] hung in there the whole time, so she definitely pushed me a lot,” Ledecky said. “… Summer is now in the sub-four-minute club, so it’s only going to get harder these races. So I know I have my work cut out for me. It’s a good steppingstone here, to just kind of have a baseline for the next couple of years moving [toward] Paris.
