Ledecky claims 800m freestyle title by almost 20 seconds at U.S. Championships

Katie Ledecky struck gold again on Tuesday when she won her specialty 800m freestyle race for the 12th time at the U.S. Swimming Championships in Irvine, California. Not only did Ledecky win, but she did so by a massive 19 seconds.

Ledecky now owns the 29 fastest times in history in the event and continues to add to her medal count across all major competitions. Last month, she collected her fifth consecutive medal at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, making her the first swimmer to collect five consecutive titles in an individual event.

Ledecky clocked a time of 8 minutes, 12.03 seconds in the race and stayed alone at the finish line for almost 20 seconds before second place finisher Mariah Denigan joined her with a time of 8:31.12. Although Ledecky was the heavy favorite coming into the event, she wasn’t necessarily focusing on a victory.

“I’m happy with that,” said Ledecky following the race. “I didn’t really have any expectations coming into this.”

For no expectations, she certainly pulled off a big win and added to her resume. The 25-year-old now has six Olympic individual gold medals and 14 World Championship individual gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer, in addition to a slew of medals from events like the U.S. Championships and Pan Pacific Games.

With the Paris Olympics just two short years away, Ledecky has the potential to be the first woman to win four Olympic golds in the same individual event in any sport. Paris 2024 would mark Ledecky’s fourth Olympic Games and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Ledecky will also compete in the 100m free, 200m free and 400m individual medley later at nationals and will be looking to collect medals in those events, as well.