Katie Ledecky stubbornly refused to give up her 800-meter freestyle crown Saturday at the world championships in Singapore, winning that race for a seventh consecutive time and fending off Canada’s Summer McIntosh who led a field of talented young, would-be usurpers.
The seven world wins put Ledecky to the top of charts of most triumphs in a single event, as she passed her own record of six victories at the 1500 free and Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström of six titles in the 50 butterfly.
Ledecky said she didn’t feel too much pressure coming into this race, satisfied with how she’s been training all year.
“It’s been a really great season and I think coming into tonight, no matter what the outcome was, I was gonna be really happy with my season,” she told NBC Sports. “And I think I just took the pressure off and allowed me to enjoy the race and kind of appreciate that moment.”
Ledecky forced the early pace with McIntosh keeping her in close range.
The young Canadian then took a brief, 0.14-second lead after 700, with Ledecky’s dominance appearing to teeter.
But the veteran found another gear and quickly regained the lead before heading into the final 50 with a .25-second edge over McIntosh, an advantage the American extended as she closed out another win.
McIntosh fell to third behind Australia’s Lani Pallister.
“That last 100 was pretty stressful,” Ledecky said. “Lani was and Summer was right there.”
Ledecky clocked in at 8:05.62, Pallister at 8:05.98 and McIntosh 8:07.29. It was by far, the closest worlds win of Ledecky’s seven at the 800 free.
A disappointed McIntosh said she didn’t swim as well as she wanted to, but will turn the page and concentrate on her next race in the 400 individual medley.
“So it’s just the beginning and I know I have lots of time in my career to do better at it,” she told the CBC.
McIntosh vowed to use Saturday’s disappointment as fuel for future 800-meter efforts.
“I really wanted to swim my own race and I didn’t do that,” said McIntosh, who congratulated Ledecky and called her an “inspiration of mine.”
“I think what I did tonight actually makes me want to keep doing it more, to see how much better I can get at it because I know I can be way faster than I was tonight.”
The suburban Washington D.C. native Ledecky said she’s now looking forward to some time off, time with loved ones and a few dips in the pool she swam in as a youngster.
“I’m looking forward to that,” she said. “It’s home to me but I’m with the people that I love, around the pool.”
The niece of New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky has also been dominating the 800 free at the Olympics, having won gold in this race at the 2012 games in London, 2016 in Rio, 2021 in Tokyo and last summer near Paris.
She’s the only woman to win the same individual event at four Olympics, in any sport. The only other swimmer to pull off such a four-peat was American legend Michael Phelps, who took the 200 individual medley in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.
At age 28, Ledecky was the field’s oldest swimmer and she outdueled her youngest and most fierce competitor, the 18-year-old Toronto native McIntosh.
Ledecky’s air of 800 invincibility was dented last year when a 17-year-old McIntosh beat the American at the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 8.
The Canadian prodigy opted against swimming in the 800 in France to concentrate on other events. She took gold in the 200 butterfly, 200 Individual Medley and 400 Individual Medley to become one of the breakout stars of last summer.
If McIntosh takes on the 800 free in Los Angeles, Saturday’s race offered a tantalizing preview of what could be in store for 2028.
