Reported by James Sutherland.
Katie Ledecky: “I felt pretty controlled … just getting out there and putting together a good swim, and feeling good throughout the whole thing made me really happy. I’ve always tried to have that consistency. I haven’t really set time goals for this year, I just want to put together good swims and have some fun with it.”
WOMEN’S 400 FREE FINALS
- American Record: Katie Ledecky, 3:56.46, 2016
U.S. Open Record: Katie Ledecky, 3:58.86, 2014LC National Meet Record: Katie Ledecky, 3:58.86, 2014- FINA ‘A’ Standard: 4:10.57
- Katie Ledecky, STAN, 3:58.44
- Leah Smith, CAV, 4:03.77
- Sierra Schmidt, CW, 4:07.92
Katie Ledecky was gone from the gun in the women’s 400 free final, toying with world record pace the entire race. In the end she fell short of her 3:56.46 from Rio, but did go 3:58.44 for a new U.S. Open and LC National Championship meet record. That is now the 3rd fastest swim in history, trailing her swim from Rio and her mark of 3:58.37 from the 2014 Pan Pacs.
After that big breakout swim in the 400 IM last night, Leah Smith had a solid showing tonight for silver in a time of 4:03.77, giving her four individual events at the World Championships. Club Wolverine’s Sierra Schmidt closed well to snag 3rd in 4:07.92, and Kaersten Meitz of Boilermaker Aquatics was 4th in 4:08.38.
The B-final was wild, as top seed coming in Geena Freriks ended up 8th despite only going eight tenths slower than prelims. Stephanie Peters got out ahead from lane 8, and held off Katie McLaughlin down the stretch to win the heat in 4:11.39. McLaughlin took 2nd in 4:11.62.
Miranda Heckman‘s 4th place finish in the C-final (4:14.46) solidifies her spot in this event at Junior Worlds, joining Leah Braswell.
“That’s something I’ve learned over time. I’m not going to break a world record every single time. I can’t go a best time every single time I get up on the blocks, and that’s what gets harder and harder, but that’s what keeps me pushing and motivated to go to practice every day and work on those little things.”
She indeed looked happily satisfied at the end of this race. Completely different story were her sprints when she looked exhausted. Especially after 1:54.8 at 200. Either she didn’t feel well that day or under 1:55 is too much for her at this stage of training. I didn’t expect her to be at such good shape at 400 after her first days at this meet.