Stanford freshman Katie Ledecky was set in her usual winning ways on night 2 at the 2017 Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way Washington. Ledecky obliterated the 500 free field, tearing through the water en route to a 4:25.15 victory. With that, she broke her own former NCAA, U.S. Open, and American Record of 4:26.46 from the Ohio State Invite in December.
The biggest difference in Ledecky’s race came on the final 100, where she split a 52.47 compared to her 53.28 back in December. She was also out slightly faster, turning in 51.32 compared to her 51.77 in her previous record swim.
At the touch, Ledecky finished 10 seconds ahead of anyone else in the field, but fellow Cardinal freshman Katie Drabot put up one of the fastest times in the nation with a 4:35.69 for 2nd place. Cal’s Katie McLaughlin also had a lights out swim to take bronze in 4:36.04.
Ledecky now has each of the 10 fastest swims in history, with Leah Smith‘s 4:30.37 from the 2015 NCAA Championships breaking her streak as the 11th-best swim of all-time.
I can heat up my food in the microwave faster than that, so who’s the real winner here?
A great day to be a Katie!