Hundreds of energetic fans packed the Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium in College Park, Maryland, Sunday to get a glimpse of the most decorated female swimmer in history as she made another groundbreaking achievement.
Bethesda-native Katie Ledecky didn’t disappoint, breaking the American record in the 1650 freestyle. Her time of 14:59:62 broke the previous American record — held by Ledecky since 2023 — by almost two seconds.
“This is a special one for sure,” Ledecky said after the win. “This has been a goal of mine, to break 15 minutes in the 1650, for probably eight or nine years. So, just putting in the hard work, believing that I could do it someday, and to do it at this meet, is really special.”
Ledecky scored her history-making swim at the namesake inaugural Katie Ledecky Invitational, held over four days at the University of Maryland in College Park. Formerly the Tom Dolan Invitational and then the Nation’s Capital Invitational, named after the club where Ledecky started, the meet featured 1,500 athletes from more than 30 teams in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The nine-time Olympic gold medalist lent her name to the four-day invitational in October then later committed to actually competing in it, which made it a must-see event.
Being “surrounded by so many friends, family, and up and coming swimmers, makes it really special,” Ledecky said of the meet. “I definitely was a little nervous before the race, just knowing there were a lot of eyes on me and all that. But I knew I could just relax and have fun with it, and whatever happened, happened.”
Ledecky spent Saturday meeting and signing autographs for young swimmers and then swam her only race on Sunday. But she made it count, becoming the first female to swim a sub-15 minute 1650 freestyle.
Ledecky set the previous record time of 15:01:41 in March 2023 at the Florida Spring Senior Championships.
Ledecky now owns the eight fastest times in 1650 freestyle history.
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