Katie Ledecky just made swimming history. The 26-year-old tied Michael Phelps’ record by winning a 15th career individual world swimming title, per NBC Sports. Ledecky won the 1500m freestyle at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, on Tuesday. She finished with a time of 15:26.27, the third-best in history in the longest event on the pool program. Simona Quadarella of Italy won the silver medal, while Li Bingjie of China won the bronze.ย
“I’m just really enjoying swimming right now, especially my distance events, I’ve just been feeling great,” Ledecky, said during the Peacock broadcast. “I feel like I’m getting better each time I swim them. That’s what you love to see. You love to see improvement, and that’s been my biggest goal over the last couple of years.”
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According to Bill Mallon of Olympedia.org, Ledecky became the third-oldest U.S. woman to win an individual swimming world title. In 2024, Ledecky can become the oldest U.S. woman to win individual Olympic swimming gold by more than a year. She is expected to break Phelps’ record when she competes in the 800m freestyle final on Saturday.ย
Ledecky looks poised to win more Olympic medals next year. She has won seven Olympic gold medals with her first coming at the age of 15 in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Ledecky won gold medals in the 1500m free and 800m free whole earning silver medals in 400m freestyle and 4 x 200m freestyle relay.ย
Back in 2021, PopCulture.com spoke to Ledeckyย about her goals for the 2020 Olympics. “I just hope to be the best version of myself,” Ledecky said. She went on to say that she wants to “represent team USA well, represent my family well, represent myself well, and I have personal goals for myself that I won’t share, but you know, it’s a really exciting time. The games are right around the corner, and so, really every choice that I make from here on out, from the razor that I use for a smooth shave, to the time that I put in the pool, to what I’m doing out of the pool. Whether that’s sleeping well, eating, right, all those things are going to impact my ability to be the best that I can be. And that’s my biggest goal, to walk away from the games knowing that I was the best version of myself and that I couldn’t have done any better.”
