McIntosh topples Ledecky in US Open 400m freestyle

WASHINGTON: Canadian teen Summer McIntosh clocked a meet-record 3min 59.42sec to win the 400m freestyle at the US Open ahead of American distance great Katie Ledecky.

McIntosh, a four-time world champion, handed Ledecky her first defeat in the event in a US pool in 11 years, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Ledecky taking second in 4:02.38.

McIntosh held the 400m free world record for three months last year. But at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, she finished a disappointing fourth as Australian Ariana Titmus regained the world record in winning gold ahead of Ledecky.

“After that race, I learned a lot about how to get back out after it,” said McIntosh, who would go on to win 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley gold at Fukuoka.

“I had so many races after that that I was really happy with. No matter how bad one race is, you really get back up and get back into it.”

McIntosh said she was “pretty happy” with the result in her first long-course race of a season pointed at the Paris Olympics.

“I was just really excited going into it and really didn’t know what to expect ... I’ll just kind of learn through this, learn from this, and kind of start to move forward for the rest of the year.”

Ledecky, who hadn’t lost a 400m free race in home waters since she was third at the 2012 Olympic trials as a 15-year-old, was coming off a victory in the 800m free on Wednesday.

She, too, is gearing up for Paris, with the US Olympic trials to be held in Indianapolis June 15-23.

The two finished comfortably ahead of third-placed Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, who clocked 4:06.32.

Kate Douglass pulled off an impressive double with victories in the women’s 200m individual medley and the 50m free.

The reigning 200m