Katie Ledecky swims the world’s fastest mile at the Atlanta Classic

Katie Ledecky swims the world’s fastest mile at the Atlanta Classic

In its latest update for the Olympic trials, Katie Ledecky launched its line of races with the world’s fastest time in the women’s 1500 freestyle. Racing Wednesday night at the Atlanta Classic, Ledecky led the field by more than 44 seconds en route to a final time of 15:38.25. That was a half-second faster than her previous best mile of the year, a 15:38.81 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, Tennessee, in January.

Although Ledecky’s dominance has been challenged in events up to 800 meters, she remains far ahead of anyone else in the world. That time is actually faster than the time clocked by the Italian who won the silver medal at last year’s Worlds, 15:43.31. Simona Quadarella. Quadarella also won this year’s world title in February (in Ledecky’s absence) in 15:46.99, a mark that ranks her second in the world for 2024.

Ashley Twichella 2021 U.S. Open Water Olympian, placed second in 16:22.69, while Abby McCullohthe NCAA 1,650-yard freestyle champion this year for Georgia, took third place in 16:24.90.

Still in Atlanta, Bobby Finke ran a season-best mark of 14:58.08 to win the men’s 1,500, well ahead of training partners University of Florida Gio Linscheer (15:41.80) and Andrew Taylor (15:42.10). Finke is the second American to exceed 3 p.m. this year, after Charlie Clark’s 14:57.44 at the World Championships in February.

The Atlanta competition is one of three competitions in USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Series this weekend, along with the competitions in Austin, Texas, and Irvine, California, all competitions following the same schedule. ‘events. In Austin, Jillian Cox clocked 16:20.83 to win the women’s 1500m, along with the 2021 Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan placing second in 16:26.45. Longhorn Sasha Lyubavski dominated the men’s race in 15:35.96.

In Irvine, Stanford Aurore Roghair clocked 16:19.79 to dominate the women’s mile, making her the fourth-fastest American woman this year as she continues her strong season. Gabe Machado was the best performer among the men (15:50.11).