KAZAN, Russia (AP) — There’s no stopping Katie Ledecky. The speedy teenager virtually raced herself at the world swimming championships, and she was unbeatable.
The 18-year-old American ended her meet in spectacular style Saturday night, lowering her own world record by 3.61 seconds in the 800-meter freestyle for her fifth gold medal.
She swam the 16-lap race in 8 minutes, 7.39 seconds, bettering her time of 8:11.00 set last year on home soil.
“I knew that I was capable of going sub-8:10,” she said, “so to go 8:07 means a lot.”
Ledecky completed a sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Kazan.