INDIANAPOLIS — Katie Ledecky is headed to her fourth Olympic Games, an accomplishment that seemed unimaginable when she was a 15-year-old in London.
These days, it wouldn’t feel like the Summer Games without it.
Consistent as ever, Ledecky claimed victory in the 400-meter freestyle at the USA Swimming preliminaries on Saturday night, where Gretchen Walsh had earlier set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly.
Ledecky makes qualifying for the Olympics look much easier than it is. Ledecky became the ninth American swimmer to qualify at least four times for the biggest stage in the sport.
“I’m proud of that consistency,” she said. “Sometimes it can be hard to feel like you’re not making progress. But really being consistent is something I’m really happy with. I’ve learned to really enjoy training and seize the moment.”
To the cheers of a crowd of 20,689 at Indianapolis Colts Stadium, Ledecky touched the makeshift pool wall in three minutes, 58.35 seconds.
She improved on her time of 3:59.99 in the morning qualifying and set herself up to run for another gold medal against a loaded field at the Paris Games.
Australian Terminator Ariarne Titmuss is the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400-meter freestyle. Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh is also expected to compete for the top spot on the podium.
In Tokyo, Ledecky took silver behind Titmuss, the first individual loss of the American’s Olympic career.
She’ll have her work cut out for her in Paris, too.
Titmuss was eliminated from the Australian qualifiers, where she broke the world record in the 200-meter freestyle and narrowly escaped her record in the 400-meter freestyle, winning in a time of 3:55.44 seconds, almost three seconds faster than Ledecky’s pace in Indianapolis.
“It will be a great stadium,” Ledecky said. “I’ve always done a very strong job between trials and matches as I’ve been quicker in the heats. The goal was no different this time. Hopefully it will stand me in good stead in the 400 metres.”
The 27-year-old Ledecky is scheduled to compete in four national qualifying events, all in freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 metres. She already has six individual gold medals – the most of any swimmer in Olympic history – and a grand total of 10 medals, including seven gold.
“I never thought I would get there,” Ledecky said, recalling her Olympic debut at the 2012 London Olympics. “I never dreamed of this when I was a little kid.”
After winning a surprise gold medal in her only event, the 800 freestyle, Ledecky was determined to reach greater heights than ever before.
“I wanted to get back to this level and prove that I was not just a miracle,” she said. “But at the same time, I reminded myself that anything more than that is just the icing on the cake, the cherry on top.”
This makes her appreciate the fourth trip to the Olympics even more.
Then there’s Aaron Shackel, a local favorite from suburban Carmel, who will be heading to the Olympics for the first time after winning the men’s 400 freestyle.
Shackle clocked 3:45.46 to beat bronze medalist Kieran Smith in the event at the Tokyo Olympics. Smith used a powerful finishing kick to take second with a time of 3:45.76, which should be enough to put him back in the Summer Games.
The strong American team is expected to make up the top two finishes in each individual event, which also bodes well for Paige Madden, runner-up behind Ledecky with a time of 4:02.08.
Ledecky and Schakel were overshadowed on the opening night of the trials by Walsh, a 21-year-old from the University of Virginia, who set the world record for the 100 fly in the semifinals with a time of 55.18 seconds.
Walsh was less than half a second off the world record pace at the turn and finished strongly to surpass the mark of 55.48 set by Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“There was a little bit of a buzz there,” Walsh said. “I think going into tonight, you know, like I knew it was going to take (55) point 4 or I think point 5, but I didn’t think I was going to do it tonight. I just knew I wanted it.” “I had a fast time and now here I am – world record holder.”
Walsh put her hand to her mouth as she looked at the scoreboard in disbelief, and there was a “WR” next to her name. But she still has some work to do to make her first Olympic team.
Sunday night’s 100 fly finals also include Tori Hoicek, Regan Smith and Claire Corzan, all medalists at the Tokyo Games. Shackle’s sister, Alex, also qualified for the final and will look to join her brother on the Olympic team.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
