Star US distance swimmer Katie Ledecky is back to her old tricks, registering her fastest 1,500-meter freestyle in seven years — and the event's second-best time in history — at the 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday.
The nine-time Olympic gold medalist finished the 30 pool lengths in 15:24.51, just missing the world-record 15:20.48 race time she posted in 2018.
Ledecky now holds the 1,500-meter freestyle's top 22 fastest times in women's swimming history — all of which would have won Wednesday's final race, where she defeated second-place finisher Jillian Cox — a University of Texas freshman — by a full 39 seconds.
Even more, Ledecky didn't slow down after her 1,500-meter performance posting her fastest 400-meter freestyle in nine years the very next day.
In the final lap of the race, the 28-year-old staged a comeback to pass Canadian teenage phenom and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Summer McIntosh and secure the win.
Her time of 3:56.81 just missed the US record of 3:56.46 that Ledecky previously claimed along with a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"I don't know if I ever thought I was going to be 3:56 again," Ledecky said in her post-race broadcast interview. "I'm just really happy with all the work that I've put in to get to this point."
How to watch Ledecky at the 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series
The 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series continues through Saturday, with Ledecky competing in Friday's 200-meter freestyle final prior to racing in the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday.
Both races will begin at 6 PM ET on their respective days.
Live coverage of the meet will stream on Peacock on Friday before shifting to the USA Swimming Network on Saturday.
With US swimmer Torri Huske’s 100-meter butterfly gold medal win on Sunday, Team USA’s combined tally of 14 swimming medals leads all countries across the Olympics.
But while the current haul is looking healthy, the USA’s Olympic swimming gold medal stranglehold is very much in danger of falling by the wayside.
Australia takes aim at USA's Olympic gold medal streak
It’s been 36 years since the coed US swimming squad came up short in the Olympic gold medal race — at least five years before anyone on today's team was even born.
That dominance, however, is hanging by a thread as the Australians are gold medal count favorites after running away with the 2023 World Swimming Championships.
"Certainly, there are some events… where we’ve got a significant amount of ground to make up," US head women’s coach Todd DeSorbo told reporters. "But I’m confident in the motivation and excitement and commitment of everybody — men and women — on the team that are prepared to do that."
Women's swimming wins keep hardware hopes alive
In the seven women’s events so far, the US has captured eight medals: one gold, four silver, and three bronze.
Joining Huske on Sunday’s 100-meter butterfly podium was US teammate and fellow NCAA swimmer Gretchen Walsh, who snagged silver just six weeks after becoming the event’s world record-holder at US Trials.
Monday’s 400-meter individual medley also saw two US swimmers medal in their second Olympic Games, with Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant taking silver and bronze behind 17-year-old Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh, who won the event by the equivalent of a country mile.
While Australia's Kaylee McKeown successfully defended her 100-meter backstroke gold medal on Tuesday — breaking her own Olympic record in the process —Team USA completed the podium. Regan Smith, who reclaimed the world record from McKeown at last month’s Trials, swam to silver, with first-time Olympian Katharine Berkoff taking bronze.
USA's Ledecky expected to make more Olympic history
After dropping to third in Saturday's 400-meter freestyle, seven-time USA gold medalist Katie Ledecky is still expected to own Wednesday’s 1500-meter freestyle, a race she hasn’t lost in 14 years.
A medal in that event would tie Ledecky with three former Team USA athletes as the most decorated Olympic women swimmers in history.