Katie Ledecky sent a powerful message in the 800m freestyle heats at the World Championships, clocking 8:14.62 – over 5 seconds faster than teen rival Summer McIntosh (8:19.88).
- Lani Pallister of Australia was second-fastest at 8:17.06.
- McIntosh, chasing Michael Phelps’s record of 5 individual golds in a single world meet, admitted conserving energy for the final.
Ledecky, 28, recently broke her own world record (8:04.12) and is a six-time world champ in the event.
McIntosh ended Ledecky’s 13-year win streak earlier this year and posted the third-fastest time ever in June.
Other Highlights from the Heats:
- Andrej Barna led the men’s 50m freestyle heats (21.44).
- Cameron McEvoy was 4th fastest; teammate Kyle Chalmers failed to qualify.
- David Popovici withdrew after winning the 100m and 200m freestyle golds.
- Kaylee McKeown topped the women’s 200m backstroke (2:08.01); 🇺🇸 Regan Smith was 5th fastest.
- Claire Curzan, the 2023 triple backstroke champ, ranked third.
- Noe Ponti led the men’s 100m butterfly heats with 50.68 – just 0.9 seconds separated all 16 semi-finalists.
- Gretchen Walsh, after illness rumors, bounced back to top the women’s 50m butterfly (25.22).
- Britain heads into the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay final as gold medal favorites after leading the heats (7:03.98).
- Mollie O’Callaghan aims for a 100-200 freestyle double tonight.
Medal events tonight:
- Men’s 200 breaststroke
- Men’s 200 backstroke
- Women’s 200 breaststroke