Katie Ledecky has skimmed a few hundredths from her official Junior World Record in the women’s 200 meter freestyle, with a 1:55.75 for the top seed on Thursday at the 2014 U.S. National Championships in Irvine, California.
That improves upon Ledecky’s 1:55.79 done three weeks ago at the Potomac Valley Long Course Championships as the new Junior World Record, and gave Ledecky the top seed over Missy Franklin (1:57.83) – a swimmer who is the fastest junior in American history but who never had an opportunity to break Junior World Records.
Ledecky’s splits compared to her old record:
Ledecky (Old Record): 27.35/28.94/30.03/29.47 = 1:55.79
Ledecky (New Record): 27.73/28.87/29.82/29.33 = 1:55.75
Ledecky wasn’t out quite as fast on Thursday morning at Nationals, but came home well, which is a sign of the period of the year she’s in where fast gets faster.
The question for the title is still up in the air, despite Ledecky’s dominance in prelims. Remember that once a swimmer makes the team, that swimmer can expand their schedule as they and the coaching staff see fit. In prelims, Franklin was conserving energy, as she’s also got the 200 back in finals. Franklin doesn’t have much to worry about in terms of “making the team,” so in finals it’s all about National Championships and relay spots.
In finals, those two will be the favorites to push each other to new world best times if they both attack the race. With Allison Schmitt failing to make the A-Final, it’s up to Franklin to challenge her this evening.
My prediction tonight for Katie: 27.5/28.5/28.75/28.75 =1:53.5