The legend continues to grow: Katie Ledecky became world champion for the 16th time.

23 gold medals. 3 silver. 2 bronze. It is difficult to see in life the appearance of someone capable of approaching the Olympic podium record of the unclassifiable Michael Phelps. Precisely this circumstance, that of defining the Baltimore phenomenon as someone unattainable, enhances the achievement that Katie Ledecky has just conquered at the Fukuoka world championships.

Precisely in the same city and the same circumstance in which Phelps won his first world crown in 2001, the best swimmer in history, with her recent three titles, surpassed the record of 15 individual crowns in this type of tournament held by her compatriot.

Ledecky is unlikely to reach Phelps’s total of 26 wins including the relays. However, there are several factors that allow Katie to be placed on an equal footing with the greatness of her countryman in the state of Maryland.

The enormity of Phelps is reflected in the fact that he has destroyed rivals and records between 200 and 400 meters, the freestyle, butterfly and medley. Even so. He even had the luxury of closing his Olympic legend by surprising as a great sprinter swimming a 4x100 free relay providing the best time of his career at that distance and in that style.

Naturally, Ledecky’s merits include a much tighter universe in terms of style -crawl only- and distances -from 200 to 1500 meters-; her adventures in the 100 brought her a gold and a silver one in the short free pools at the world championships in Budapest 2017 and Rio 2016 respectively.

It was precisely in the Hungarian World Cup that her little more than 8 minutes and 8 seconds with which she won the 800 meters would have allowed her to overcome 9 of the men who competed in the same distance in that same competition.

Katie’s global journey began in Barcelona 2013. There, at just 16 years old, she won her first four world gold medals. Three as singles - 400, 800 and 1500 m - and one with the United States team in the 4x200 m freestyle.

Years went by and she repeated gold in Kazan 2015, where she also won in the 200m, being the World Cup where she harvested the most gold. She did the same in Budapest 2017, winning all but one race she competed in - she won a silver medal in the 200m freestyle. By then, Katie had just dazzled everyone at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. At the age of 15, in London 2012, she had only won one gold medal in the competition. In Rio she went for more and won the three individual races she swam, another gold one in the 4x200 and one silver in the 4x100.

At the Games where Michael Phelps said goodbye to swimming, it became clear that his legacy would be well cared for in the hands of Katie. And it didn’t disappoint. She continued her career with one gold and two silver in Gwangju 2019, two gold and two silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and four gold in Budapest 2022.

Now a “veteran” at the Fukuoka World Cup - she surpasses all her rivals in the competition in age - Ledecky is back in the news when she won her sixth world title over the distance of 800 meters and for beating her compatriot Phelps in individual world medals won. Ten years after her first title, she is once again at the top of the podium.

The 800 meters in which she dedicated herself today with a time of 8:08.87 was her last race in Fukuoka. In second place and several seconds behind the champion, China’s Bingjie Li took the silver medal with a time of 8:13.31, just a hundredth faster than Ariarne Titmus, from Australia, who completed the podium in third place with a time of 8:13.59.

Four seconds separated her from breaking her own record, but the 8:08.87 allowed her to win the race with ease and take five seconds out of her rivals, thus showing her absolute dominance of the race.

It wasn’t only in the 800 meters that Ledecky showed her potential and superiority. Hours before her final today, she won her fifth world title in the 1500m, finishing more than 17 seconds ahead of the Italian Simona Quadarella. She didn’t run with the same luck in the 400m freestyle final. An inspired Titmus snatched the title from her by more than three seconds. The Australian celebrated twice as she also won the race with a world record in a time of 3:55.38, one second short of her previous record set in May 2022.

“I’m really enjoying swimming right now, especially in distance events. I feel like I’m getting better every time I swim them,” Ledecky told NBC. “That’s what you enjoy the most. You love seeing improvements and that has been my biggest goal in recent years.”

Everyone has the right to choose whomever they prefer. What’s more, according to Ledecky’s own forecast (“Someone could beat Michael’s record for podiums”), perhaps we will ever discuss whether the person who eclipses them finally showed up.

Personally, I am delighted that this world cup is the perfect bridge for Katie to be in Paris a year from now.

And if I am given a choice between one and the other, I ask for an exception and choose both.