American Katie Ledecky shattered her own 800-meter freestyle world record on Saturday, clocking 8 minutes, 4.12 seconds at the Tyr Pro Series meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to better the previous mark of 8:04.79 that she set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Ledecky paced a masterful race, surging ahead through 400 meters before briefly ceding ground at the 450- and 500-meter marks. By 550 meters she had reclaimed the lead, and a blistering final leg saw her narrowly edge the world record pace at 700 meters.
The record-breaking swim capped an extraordinary series of performances for Ledecky, who posted her second-fastest 400-meter freestyle time on Thursday — her best in nine years — and the second-fastest 1500-meter freestyle time in history on Wednesday.
Before Saturday’s feat, Ledecky’s most recent world record in a 50-meter pool came in the 1500-meter freestyle in May 2018. The 27-year-old holds 15 world records in the 50-meter pool — including six in the 800-meter free — and added to her tally with records in the 25-meter pool in 2022.
