Katie Ledecky heading to her fourth Olympics, wins 400 freestyle at US swimming trials
Katie Ledecky swims during the Women's 400 freestyle preliminaries Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Katie Ledecky is heading to her fourth Olympics, cruising to victory in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming trials
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Katie Ledecky is heading to her fourth Olympics, cruising to victory in the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming trials on Saturday night.
Cheered on by a crowd of 20,689 at the home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Ledecky touched the wall in 3 minutes, 58.35 seconds.
She improved on her time of 3:59.99 in the morning preliminaries and set herself up to make a run at another gold against a loaded field at the Paris Games. Australia's Ariarne Titmus is the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder (3:55.38), with Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh also in the mix.
The 27-year-old Ledecky is set to swim four events at the trials, all of them freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters. She already has six individual gold medals — more than any female swimmer in Olympic history.
The expected second spot on the Olympic team will go to Paige Madden, the runner-up behind Ledecky at 4:02.08.