At the Toronto stop of the 2022 FINA World Cup, Katie Ledecky shattered the SCM women’s 1500 freestyle world record. It was her first time swimming the event, but that didn’t seem to matter: she threw down a 15:08.24, breaking Sarah Kohler‘s 2019 mark of 15:18.01 by almost ten seconds.
As impressive as that is–especially since en-route, Ledecky shattered the American record in the 800 freestyle–it isn’t even close to the biggest drop on the progression of women’s 1500 freestyle world records.
In the long course event, the world record was set at 25:06.06 in 1922. Since then, it’s been broken 44 times and is currently held by Ledecky herself in 15:20.48. Let’s take a look at how the record got there.
World Record Progression – Women’s LCM 1500 Freestyle
| # | Time | Time Difference From Old Mark (seconds) | Name | Nationality | Date |
| 1 | 25:06.06 | Helen Wainwright | United States | 8/19/1922 | |
| 2 | 24:07.06 | 59.00 | Ethel McGary | United States | 12/31/1925 |
| 3 | 24:00.02 | 7.04 | Edith Mayne | Great Britain | 9/15/1926 |
| 4 | 23:44.06 | 15.56 | Martha Norelius | United States | 7/8/1927 |
| 5 | 22:36.07 | 40.55 | Grete Frederiksen | Denmark | 7/15/1931 |
| 6 | 21:45.07 | 51.00 | Ragnhild Hveger | Denmark | 7/3/1938 |
| 7 | 21:10.01 | 35.06 | Ragnhild Hveger | Denmark | 8/11/1940 |
| 8 | 20:57.00 | 13.01 | Ragnhild Hveger | Denmark | 8/20/1941 |
| 9 | 20:46.05 | 10.55 | Lenie de Nijs | Netherlands | 7/23/1955 |
| 10 | 20:22.08 | 23.57 | Jans Koster | Netherlands | 8/21/1956 |
| 11 | 20:03.01 | 19.07 | Jans Koster | Netherlands | 7/27/1957 |
| 12 | 19:25.07 | 37.54 | Ilsa Konrads | Australia | 1/13/1960 |
| 13 | 19:23.06 | 2.01 | Jane Cederqvist | Sweden | 9/8/1960 |
| 14 | 19:02.08 | 20.58 | Margareta Rylander | Sweden | 10/27/1961 |
| 15 | 18:44.00 | 18.08 | Carolyn House | United States | 8/16/1962 |
| 16 | 18:30.05 | 13.55 | Patty Caretto | United States | 7/30/1964 |
| 17 | 18:23.07 | 6.58 | Patty Caretto | United States | 8/12/1965 |
| 18 | 18:12.09 | 10.58 | Patty Caretto | United States | 8/21/1966 |
| 19 | 18:11.01 | 1.08 | Debbie Meyer | United States | 7/9/1967 |
| 20 | 17:50.02 | 20.59 | Debbie Meyer | United States | 8/20/1967 |
| 21 | 17:31.02 | 19.00 | Debbie Meyer | United States | 8/21/1968 |
| 22 | 17:19.09 | 11.53 | Debbie Meyer | United States | 8/17/1969 |
| 23 | 17:19.02 | .07 | Cathy Calhoun | United States | 8/28/1971 |
| 24 | 17:00.06 | 18.56 | Shane Gould | Australia | 12/12/1971 |
| 25 | 16:56.09 | 3.57 | Shane Gould | Australia | 2/11/1973 |
| 26 | 16:54.14 | 1.55 | Jo Harshbarger | United States | 8/25/1973 |
| 27 | 16:49.09 | 5.05 | Jennifer Turrall | Australia | 12/9/1973 |
| 28 | 16:48.02 | 1.07 | Jennifer Turrall | Australia | 1/9/1974 |
| 29 | 16:43.04 | 4.58 | Jennifer Turrall | Australia | 7/13/1974 |
| 30 | 16:39.03 | 4.01 | Jennifer Turrall | Australia | 8/3/1974 |
| 31 | 16:33.09 | 5.54 | Jennifer Turrall | Australia | 8/25/1974 |
| 32 | 16:25.00 | 8.09 | Alice Browne | United States | 8/21/1977 |
| 33 | 16:15.33 | 9.27 | Tracey Wickham | Australia | 2/8/1978 |
| 34 | 16:07.03 | 8.30 | Tracey Wickham | Australia | 2/25/1979 |
| 35 | 16:04.49 | 2.14 | Kim Linehan | United States | 8/19/1979 |
| 36 | 16:01.13 | 3.36 | Janet Evans | United States | 7/31/1987 |
| 37 | 15:52.10 | 9.03 | Janet Evans | United States | 3/26/1988 |
| 38 | 15:42.54 | 9.16 | Kate Ziegler | United States | 6/17/2007 |
| 39 | 15:36.53 | 6.01 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 7/30/2013 |
| 40 | 15:34.23 | 2.30 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 6/19/2014 |
| 41 | 15:28.36 | 5.47 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 8/24/2014 |
| 42 | 15:28.11 | .25 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 8/3/2015 |
| 43 | 15:25.48 | 2.23 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 8/4/2015 |
| 44 | 15:20.48 | 5.00 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 5/16/2018 |
The biggest time drop is the first one, when Ethel McGary smashed Wainwright’s world record by 59 seconds. McGary is an American Olympian, who swam the 400 free at the 1928 Olympics.
There have been several double-digit drops, and the last one came in 1971, when Shane Gould swam 17:00.06, taking 18.56 seconds off the mark. In fact, the average time drop for the women’s LCM 1500 freestyle record is 12.79 seconds.
There’s significantly less data for the SCM edition of the race, as it wasn’t raced until 1982. In this version of the race, Ledecky taking 9.37 seconds off the record is the biggest drop of all-time. She narrowly passes Kate Ziegler‘s mark; in 2007, Ziegler hacked 9.09 seconds off the record with a 15:33.30.
World Record Progression – Women’s SCM 1500 Freestyle
| # | Time | Time Difference From Old Mark (seconds) | Name | Nationality | Date |
| 1 | 15:43.31 | – | Petra Schneider | East Germany | 1/10/1982 |
| 2 | 15:42.39 | .92 | Laure Manaudou | France | 11/20/2004 |
| 3 | 15:33.30 | 9.09 | Kate Ziegler | United States | 10/12/2007 |
| 4 | 15:29.05 | 4.25 | Lotte Friis | Denmark | 11/29/2009 |
| 5 | 15:27.35 | 1.30 | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 11/29/2013 |
| 6 | 15:23.08 | 4.27 | Lauren Boyle | New Zealand | 8/9/2014 |
| 7 | 15:20.11 | 2.57 | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 12/12/2014 |
| 8 | 15:18.01 | 2.10 | Sarah Köhler | Germany | 11/19/2019 |
| 9 | 15:08.24 | 9.37 | Katie Ledecky | United States | 10/29/2022 |
Ledecky’s progression of the world record raises the average time difference significantly. Before her swim, the average time drop was 3.5 seconds. Thanks to her, it’s now 4.23.
Even though it’s been 9 years since she first set a world record at this distance, Ledecky showed tonight how much of an impact she can still make. She’s set world records, won Olympic gold, and now, she’s set a world record in her first time swimming an event. On top of that, it’s the biggest progression of the SCM world record in history.
As for the biggest drop across both pool lengths though–that record still belongs to McGary.
Is it only me or is Katie’s stroke resembling Patrinieri’s galloping… wow she’s good!
I wish Kate Ziegler had the opportunity to win an Olympic medal in the 1500 back in the day.
Ditto Janet Evans.
But at least Evans has individual Gold in other events. I don’t even know if Ziegler has an Olympic medal
Hveger did the most overall improvement. She dropped it by 98 seconds over her 3 record setting swims.