American Ledecky breaks own 800m freestyle world record

American Katie Ledecky shattered her own 800m 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 400m before briefly ceding ground at the 450m and 500m marks. By 550m she had reclaimed the lead, and a blistering final leg saw her narrowly edge the world record pace at 700m.

The record-breaking swim capped an extraordinary series of performances for Ledecky, who posted her second-fastest 400m freestyle time on Thursday – her best in nine years – and the second-fastest 1500m freestyle time in history on Wednesday.

Before Saturday’s feat, Ledecky’s most recent world record in a 50m pool came in the 1500m freestyle in May 2018. The 27-year-old now holds 15 world records in the 50m pool – including six in the 800m free – and added to her tally with records in the 25m pool in 2022.