Occasionally, though, her mind drifts, even in races – even in a world championship.
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US teenager Ledecky, a triple world-record holder, built a commanding lead in her final and came within a second of her own world record in the event, but had to make do with a winning time of 3 minutes, 59.13 seconds, a new championship record.
Connor Jaeger of the United States, the bronze medalist two years ago in Barcelona, finished fourth in 3:44.81. The importance of another world record was evident when Ledecky touched the wall, looked to the clock and slapped the water in celebration. I think breaking that record is just a testament to the work I’ve put in and the shape that I’m in right now that I was able to do that. “I was just so relaxed”.
Ledecky is Secretariat in 1973, Tiger Woods in 2000, Michael Phelps in 2008, or Serena Williams today – but significantly younger than all of them were in those peak seasons (with the obvious exception of the racehorse).
“I wasn’t kicking much”, Ledecky said shortly after the race. “Her race was breathtaking in a visceral sense – as her closest competitor, Australia’s Jessica Ashwood, finished a whopping 28.81 seconds and almost an entire pool-length behind – but it was just as impressive, in a swim-nerd sense, as a model of efficiency and consistency”. Others were more than two laps behind. Singular feats of human achievement never grow mundane, and what Ledecky, 18, would produce on this sleepy morning was her eighth world record in the past two years.
You win your heat, usually youre in the final, U.S. national team director Frank Busch said.
His time was the 20th fastest and while he has missed out on qualifying, Capp has improved his world ranking by more than 30 places.
Grevers was first at the 50 in the men’s 100m backstroke, but couldn’t hold off Mitchell Larkin of Australia and Camille LaCourt of France in the final half of the race.
Earlier Monday, Hosszu was the top qualifier in the 100 backstroke preliminaries, but she scratched the semifinals to focus on the 200 IM. She qualified first in that event, too, and is planning to swim five more individual events this week. Franklin turned in a remarkable performance at that meet, becoming the first woman to break the 1-minute-40-second barrier in the 200-yard freestyle on her way to one of her three individual victories.
United States’ Missy Franklin starts during her heat of the women’s 100m backstroke at the S … “She runs her swimming as a business”, Tusup said. “After last summer I have this new appreciation of getting up there and not worrying about injury”. That was the seventh fastest time in the prelims, topped by the 1:46 of China’s Sun Yang, who won the 400 Sunday.
Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands took silver.
“Unbelievable”, American Ryan Lochte said.
“I’m glad that’s over”. “That felt awful”, Lochte said, describing his swim as “a tactical disaster”.
Ledecky, a recent high school graduate who has yet to earn a driver’s license, will be favored in the 800 and 1,500 freestyles and is a threat in the 200 free.
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There had been lots of doubts in Sun’s form before the worlds as the London Olympic champion had not produced persuading results in the recent year and his doping case which was revealed last September also made him under fire.
