The women’s 1650 free race at NCAAs later this week is going to look real slow, because Katie Ledecky just went a 15:01.41 in the event to break the US Open and American record at the 2023 Florida Swimming Spring Senior Champs. Ledecky broke her own record time of 15:03.31, which set in November 2017 at the Art Adamson Invite when she was still swimming collegiately for Stanford.


Ledecky finished her race over a minute ahead of Florida swimmer Caroline Pennington, who finished in second with a time of 16:08.78. Keep in mind, Pennington is the 2022 Pac-12 champion in the 1650 free and her time would have qualified for NCAAs this year, and she still lost to Ledecky by a minute and seven seconds.


Now, Ledecky holds seven of the top times in the history of the 1650 free and is over 22 seconds faster than Erica Sullivan, who is the second-fastest performance of all-time in the event and holds a personal best of 15:23.81.