Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky added another win to her name at the US Swimming Championships on Friday, taking the 400m freestyle in 3:58.56 to secure another event for her 2025 World Championships lineup.
Ledecky had already qualified for the World Championships in Singapore with a win in the 800m freestyle. In the 400m final, she was swimming under world record pace at the halfway mark and finished 1.49 seconds ahead of Claire Weinstein, who had beaten her earlier in the week in the 200m freestyle where they finished first and second.
“I just wanted to put together a solid race from start to finish,” Ledecky said after claiming her 32nd national title. “The last 100 meters were definitely painful, but overall I’m pretty happy with the result.”
She is also expected to compete in the 1,500m freestyle as the championships wrap up in Indianapolis on Saturday. Ledecky heads into the World Championships next month riding a strong wave of momentum.
Back in May, she swam the second-fastest 1,500m freestyle ever recorded—just behind her own world record—as well as her second-fastest 400m and another 800m world record.
“It’s really about staying consistent year after year and believing there’s always more left in the tank,” she said. “I just kept trusting that it would all pay off.”
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