Olympic champion Katie Ledecky broke the 800 meter free world record for the 4th time in Austin at the Arena Pro Swim Series. She clocked an 8:06.68, lowering the record time of 8:07.39 she set last summer at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan.
Coach Bruce Gemmell of NCAP said Ledecky was a little rested for the meet, that he wanted to see where she was race-wise well in advance of 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha. This is consistent with past seasons. Ledecky swims jaw-dropping times in-season, then ramps training back up for a few months only to break more world records at the end of the season.
It appears Ledecky will swim 100-200-400-800 free at U.S. Olympic Trials. Predicting times, taking into account her full schedule, is tough. I think my predictions are out-there, but Ledecky’s shown us putting limits on her is a fool’s game.
Mel Prediction:
800m free in Omaha – 8:03.9
800m free in Rio – 8:01.8
What are your predictions?
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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.
HYPOCRITS yes ledecky,s times especially the 800 free are being mind boggling. 8:06 and the second fastest “woman” in history is an 8:14. That,s an 8 second difference. 8 seconds is no joke. And that woman that swam 8:14 “rebecca addlington” is no push over. She,s absolutely world class.
As you said. Time will tell.
heidi krieger…the first thing i am thinking when ledecky swimms.fact.time will tell.
mel knows best
Us has no chance for gold in the 4×100 relay:
How can you match
a 53.4
a 52.7
a 51.7
And a 51.5
because that’s the way the Aussies relay is shaping up, a freaking 3:29.3
The best I can see the states is
53.1
53.3
53.8
52.8
For a 3:32.9
But the Netherlands can go
53.2
52.9
52.7
53.7
For a 3:32.5
I’m saying Aussies gold, Netherlands silver, and USA bronze.
I,m wondering what the Swedish women can come up with in the 4×200 free relay. The US are favorites.
He swedes have sarah sjostrom, Michelle Coleman and Louise hansson to bring in top end speed but no 4th swimmer as of yet.
My prediction for Sweden
If sarah sjostrom leads off
Sarah sjostrom lead off 1:54:03 or 1:54 low
Michelle Coleman 1:55 mid flying start. Has a new pb of 1:56 low very recently.
Louise hansson has been improving at the fastest rate among all their swimmers. Currently has a pb of 1:58. But has a very recent pb of 1:53 in short course so I see a progression to at least a 1:56 flat start and maybe a 1:55… Read more »
I would give the US girl a slight edge in all 3 of those matchups. And the 4th US girl will be the next fastest from among the 3 other prelim swimmers. That’s a big advantage that if #4 is off then #5 or #6 will step up so worst that #4 swims in finals is 1:57 and swedes don’t have that luxury.
Rafael yes you are right about canada. We could see more improvements from Taylor ruck and Penny oleksiak. They are both young and improving fast. Chantal van landeghem is also proving and she,ll the most powerfully builth female sprinter at a height of 6,4. Amazing.
As for Sweden, they don’t have a reliable fourth girl. They have sarah sjostrom, Michelle Coleman and Louise hansson but no 54 sec fourth swimmer so I think it,s more likely that canada will challenge for the medals than Sweden.
Canada have more depth than Sweden with sandrine mainville, Michelle Williams, Penny oleksiak, Taylor ruck, chantal van landeghem and maybe Catherine savard.
MG even if Katie ledecky splits a 52 in the in the 400 free relay with a flying start, it,s very unlikely that the US will be vying for gold against Australia. At most they will be fighting for silver against the Netherlands.
Both Campbell sisters have split a 51 with a flying start in the 400 free relay and can do it with relative ease. Emma McKeon has and can split a 52 with a flying start. Those 3 are impossible to overcome. But the thing is that Australia can get another girl in the 52 range. Brittany elmslie was making huge strides before she had to pull out of Kazan for breast cancer surgery. She recorded a pb… Read more »
Carlo, that is considering tha Canada won´t evolve and Sweden find another girl and be a threat to US…
Sweden had a a 55,06 split by Kuras and finished 1,1 second behind US, if a 53 high split girls appear they are close to US
Canada had Savard and Willians splitting a 54,54 and they finished 1,8 seconds behind US, but based on Jr World Times I would not be surprised to see Ruck and Oleksiak on the team, Ruck might have the ability to split a 53 flat and Oleksiak a 53 mid-high, that would be almost a 2 second drop, Also Chantal can split a 53 low.
I think Ledecky is going to try to send a message at trials, erase all doubts that the Ledecky slam was at all luck. I say she goes 1:53 mid in the 200, 3;56 low in the 400 and to top off she goes 7;59.7 in the 800. She demoralizes the competition before she get there and shows that she is a threat in all races.