Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The BlueSeventy Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
While Katie Ledecky has been a downright terror for opponents since her big breakthrough in 2012, the one saving grace has been that her dominance was always confined to the freestyles, specifically the distance races.
But now, nowhere is safe.
Ledecky’s Olympic gold medal in the 200 free was one major step in that direction, and her starring role on the American 4×100 free relay in Rio proved she could contend down into the longer sprint races. But this week, Ledecky took another gargantuan leap in extending her shadow further across the sport. Katie Ledecky broke an American record – in the 400 IM.
It was a favorite topic of speculation for years. Who wouldn’t want to see the greatest distance swimmer of all-time pick off poor, dying saps at the end of a 400 IM? It’s like getting to watch a first-round NFL draft prospect at defensive tackle steamroll helpless middle-tier college linemen. But it always seemed a bit of a longshot. There’s a pretty significant difference between swimming fast freestyle for a long time and alternating between four different strokes against high-level swimmers who don’t have a weak stroke.
Until last weekend, when Ledecky went 3:57.68 to become the fastest American 400 yard IMer in history. The swim constituted a three-second drop for Ledecky, and she’s now cut a full 10 seconds off her best time since late 2015. If that progression curve continues, Ledecky could challenge the U.S. Open record of 3:56.54 set by Katinka Hosszu. That stands as the fastest 400 IM in women’s swimming history.
When she swam that race back in 2012, Hosszu closed in a stunning 53.58 for her freestyle leg. In 2017, Ledecky closed her 400 IM in 52.67.
Talk about scary. 400 IMers, you now have something in common with distance freestylers. None of you are safe from the wrath of Ledecky.
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Ledecky has “only” been 4:37 LC, but that was totally unrested. If she continues to improve in 4IM, and starts to swim it on the world stage, I would compare this somewhat to when Phelps moved from IM/fly into the 200 free in 2003-04. When he swam the 200 in Athens, he was a heavy underdog to Thorpe and PVDH. He could have stuck to his specialties and won all gold. He expanded the playing field and finished with bronze in the 200.
and he was coming like a train in the finish – 5 more meters and Phelps was winning that insane 200 free
I cannot wait until Ledecky gets into this event long course… This could be an epic battle at worlds.
Recall that the 3:57 was not a fully rested swim. She’s now chosen to forego the 4IM at NCAAs, but I think she’s ALREADY faster than the 3:56 record…
2012 Hosszu is completely different from 2017 Hosszu.. before someone start saying just because of a SCY time that Ledecky would make a Run at Hosszu LCM WR..
I think she’d be 3:54 or 3:55 fully rested in SCY, and we know she can transition to the big pool… that would suggest something close to 4:30. Which doesn’t seem unrealistic, given that she’s gone 4:37 at mid-season meets, before. If Hosszu is on her game, KL is not going to beat her… yet. But if she keeps training seriously I think she’ll have a real shot, maybe even this summer and certainly in the next year or two (not to mention that Hosszu is at an age where it’s tough to stave off decline).
Are you seriously suggesting that either Ledecky would not improve her 4IM if she trained more for it and/or she is not good at transitioning to LCM?
If she ends up trying (she did do an interview at Pac-12s suggesting that for the foreseeable future IM is just playtime), whether or not she breaks Hosszu’s LCM WR, she would certainly make a run at it. If you doubt that… [no comment necessary]
If you wanna be safe get out of the water. Until she runs a 4 minute-mile that is…
Run…
Correct, ’cause they sure as heck ain’t gonna be able to swim away from her…
Run or train more , it depends LOL