Katie Ledecky has been the dominant women’s swimmer in the world the last couple of years, and has become known as much for her nearly robotic precision as her record-breaking times.
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Ledecky finally got over the hump, breaking her previous world record by almost two seconds. She is so much better than everybody else that winning is not a mystery – just whether she will break her own records.
Michael Phelps capped an explosive evening of record-breaking and barely concealed needle Sunday by bagging an astonishing 19th Olympic gold medal in the men’s 4×100 metres freestyle relay.
However, while Phelps’ presence was felt on Sunday, Ledecky had the largest impact. “I was just trying to set a personal best time, and for me, that just happens to be a world record”, she said in an interview with The Washington Post. The bronze went to Cody Miller of the United States, whose time of 58.87 held off teammate Kevin Cordes. With her win, Ledecky remains a legitimate contender to win six medals in all six of her events in Rio. It was hard to take your eyes off her and notice the others in the pool, such is the command of this one swimmer in this one race.
Mark it down. This is going to be a Katie Ledecky Olympics. She finished so far ahead her next closest competitors, she was able to turn around and look for her time before anyone else finished the race.
Whether Ledecky deliberately chose to ease up or was subconsciously holding off is both hard to say and completely irrelevant.
She could become the first woman since Debbie Meyer in Mexico City in 1968 to sweep the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle at the Games, and is to be a contender with the USA team in the 4x200m freestyle.
Still to come are additional gold chances in the 200 free, 800 free and 4×200 free relay. Shortly before Ledecky swam, former Cal swimmer Dana Vollmer capped off a sweet comeback story by winning a bronze medal barely a year after giving birth to her first child. The younger guys started crying, I started crying.
Next up for Ledecky: the 200 free, with heats this afternoon, semifinals tonight and final Tuesday night. She now ranks No. 2 in the world in that race, behind Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström.
He swam the second leg for the U.S., who won in a time of three minutes 9.92 seconds, with France second in 3:10.53 and Australia third in 3:11.37.
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Britain’s Adam Peaty set his second world record in as many nights in the 100 breaststroke, while Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden eclipsed her own mark in the 100 butterfly. “It was insane. It’s awesome and I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight”.
