Katie Ledecky was a dominant force last night at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. She won her fifth women's 1500m freestyle title at the world championships. Katie also matched Michael Phelps' record of most individual gold medals won at World Championships.
Both Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps have 15 individual World Championships gold medals as of now. On witnessing Katie's achievement, Michael Phelps shared an Instagram post congratulating Ledecky for matching his gold medal record at the World Championships.
Michael Phelps wrote,
"Congrats @katieledecky !!"
Katie Ledecky who is often considered to be the best female swimmer of all time is also in the same league as Michael Phelps, who is considered to be one of the greatest swimmers of all time.
Michael Phelps already witnessed his men's 400m individual medley world record being broken by Leon Marchand at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships and now Katie has matched his record of the highest number of individual gold medals won at the World Championships.
Last night, she clocked a time of 15:26.27 to clinch the gold medal. Ledecky's time of 15:26.27 was also the third fastest time ever in the women's 1500m freestyle event.
Katie Ledecky reflects on her gold medal winning time in the women's 1500m at World Aquatics Championships
Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the women's 1500m at the World Aquatics Championships yestersday. She clocked a time of 15.26.27 to finish in first place. The American swimmer hadn't gone under 15:30 for over three years, but she has done so in her past two meets.
At the 2023 US National Championships, Ledecky clocked a time of 15:29.64 and yesterday she bettered that time with 15:26.27. In an interview posted by SwimSwam, Katie reflected on her gold medal winning time at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
"I was 15:20 five years ago, but that was still a great performance for me. I think just the last couple of years I’ve just tried to be really locked in on my stroke and my rhythm and the work that I’m putting in, I’m putting in a lot of work for that 800 and mile, and I think I’m just growing more and more confidence every time I race those events and getting under 15: 30 a couple of weeks ago at nationals was a huge step for me."
The American swimmer continued,
"I hadn’t been under 15:30 since before the pandemic. And so to do that there and then to chop off another three seconds from nationals a couple of weeks ago was really great."
Her personal best time in the 1500m freestyle is 15:20.28, which she set in 2018. It is also a world record time and hasn't been broken since 2018. Katie Ledecky will be in the hunt for one more gold medal at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships when she competes in the women's 800m freestyle event.
If Katie is able to win the women's 800m freestyle title, she will surpass Michael Phelps' to become the swimmer with the most individual gold medals won at World Championships.
