Katie Ledecky said the one-year gap between complete swimming competitions did not affect his goals for the Tokyo Olympics. She supported that statement on Wednesday.
Ledecky, in his first broadcast since last March, crushed most of the other US 1500m freestylers, winning by 21.37 seconds to open a four-day Pro Series encounter in San Antonio.
“I did not create much expectations for this first race,” she said. “I knew that getting the first race out of the way would be a bit of a milestone on this journey back to real racing.”
Ledecky, who has the 10 fastest times in history at the event, recorded 15 minutes and 42.92 seconds. She is the big favorite in the 1500m freestyle this summer, when she is on the Olympic program for the first time as a women’s event.
His world record is 15:20.48. Second fastest swimmer in history, retired Danish Lotte Friis, had a best time of 15: 38.88.
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Ledecky lost 1,500 free meters in her life – when she was 13 in 2010. She also dropped out before the event’s final at the 2019 World Championship due to illness. Italian Simona Quadarella went on to win in 15: 40.89.
Ashley Twichell, who in 2019 was part of the Tokyo Olympic team in the 10 km open water, came in second on Wednesday, followed by Erica Sullivan. They have entered the competition in second and third place among Americans since the beginning of 2019.
Ledecky and Stanford training group partner Simone Manuel are competing in their first high level competition since last March.
They spent the last spring training in at least one pool in the backyard, then passed competitions last fall and early winter, while returning to normal practice. They ran within their group and against those who train in the nearby city of Berkeley.
The San Antonio meeting also includes Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Lochte and Regan Smith while swimmers prepare for the June Olympic tryouts, where the top two by individual event are in line to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
The San Antonio meeting continues for the next three nights at 8 ET on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and streaming on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.
Ledecky is enrolled in his other best races – the 400m, 200m and 800m freestyle – in the next three days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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