Katie Ledecky celebrates after winning the women's 1,500-meter freestyle final and setting a new record at the 2013 USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships and World Championship Trials at the Indiana University Natatorium on June 29, 2013 in Indianapolis.
Katie Ledecky had already won two gold medals earlier in the Phillips 66 National Championships and World Championship Trials in Indianapolis, but she was most anticipating her 1,500-meter freestyle final on Saturday, the fifth and final day of the meet.
“I was really happy with it,” the 800-meter freestyle Olympic gold medalist said after winning the 1,500 in 15:47.15 to claim the Performance of the Meet Award. “It was a swim I was looking forward to all week.
“I just wanted to go out with a bang."
She did.
Ledecky broke the 15-year-old meet record, held by Janet Evans, by almost five seconds. She posted the fastest time in the world this year and the second fastest in American history, behind only world-record holder Kate Ziegler.
“I just wanted to swim a controlled swim, feel good and see what I could do,” Ledecky said after winning by more than 20 seconds over Chloe Sutton.
Ledecky and Sutton finished 1-2 in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter finals during the week. Ledecky will also compete in the 4x200 freestyle relay and at 200 meters at the FINA World Championships July 28-August 4 in Barcelona, Spain. She finished second in the 200, behind five-time Olympic medalist Missy Franklin.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what the U.S. can do in Barcelona,” Ledecky said.
Franklin won four events, including a finish of 58.67 in the 100 backstroke Friday for the fastest time in the world this year. Franklin also won the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke.
“The main goal is to be faster in four weeks than we were right now,” Franklin said.
Another Olympic champion, Ryan Lochte qualified for six events. He wrapped up his meet by winning the 200 individual medley in 1:55.44, the fastest time in the world in the event this year. Lochte was ahead of the world-record pace midway through the race.
“That’s the story of this meet for me — going out fast and holding on for dear life,” said Lochte, who also won the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke while earning spots in the 100 butterfly, 4x100 freestyle relay and 4x200 freestyle relay. “I have four more weeks until worlds.
“Hopefully my legs won’t be as tired."
Lochte and Franklin won the Kiphuth Award as the highest men’s and women’s point scorers in the meet.
Connor Jaeger, who also won the 400 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle, set the meet record in the men’s 800 freestyle in 7:46.78.
Nathan Adrian used the world’s fastest time of the year to tie the meet record of 21.47 in the 50 freestyle.
The meet drew a field that included 30 members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. Complete results on the meet are available at www.usaswimming.org/nationals. The U.S. roster for the World Championships is available here.
TENNIS
Sloane Stephens lost nine out of 10 games at one point but recovered to defeat Petra Cetkovska 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 in a third-round women’s singles match at Wimbledon in England. The match was halted because of rain Friday and had the third set played Saturday. Stephens trailed 3-1 in the third set before rallying for the win.
Stephens and top-seeded Serena Williams have reached the second week of all three Grand Slams so far this year.
Williams became the 15th player in history to post 600 career wins when she defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6-2, 6-0.
Fellow American Madison Keys was eliminated in three sets by Agnieszka Radwanska. By reaching the third round at Wimbledon, the 18-year-old Keys will advance into the top 50 in women’s world rankings.
TRACK AND FIELD
Christian Taylor, Dawn Harper-Nelson and Reese Hoffa won titles Sunday at the Diamond League event in Birmingham, England.
Taylor, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, went 57-11 ¼ to win the men’s triple jump with the best length in the world this season.
Harper-Nelson and Kellie Wells, who finished 2-3 at the 2012 Olympic Games, took the top two spots in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
Hoffa, a bronze medalist in London, won the men’s shot put with 70-0 ¼ while U.S. teammate Ryan Whiting was second.
Gia Lewis-Smallwood (women’s discus), Aries Merritt (men’s 110-meter hurdles) and Erik Kynard (men’s high jump) also finished second, while Jenn Suhr (women’s pole vault) and Michael Tinsley (men’s 400-meter) were third.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. men handed Bulgaria its first defeat of the FIVB World League Friday in Reno, Nev., but lost when the two teams played each other again Saturday. The United States, which is third in Pool A with a 4-2 record, won Saturday’s match, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
Bulgaria regained control of first place in the pool with a 25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21 win Saturday.
“When you beat a team 3-0, you understand that they’re going to come back with more fire and energy,” said Matt Anderson, the top U.S. scorer in World League play and in Saturday’s loss. “I think they put together a good game plan against us and they executed it very well."
Elsewhere, the United States finished 17th out of 20 teams at the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championships in Brno, Czech Republic.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
April Ross will play with Whitney Pavlik at the FIVB World Championships, which begin Monday in Stare Jablonki, Poland, after her 2012 Olympic teammate Jennifer Kessy withdrew due to injury. Ross and Kessy won the Olympic silver medal in London.
“I’ve had some hip issues and I had an Achilles issue in the Brazil World Cup that was caused by the hip problem,” Kessy said when making the announcement Friday. “I need to take a break. Sadly it came during the World Championships, but I didn’t want to do any further permanent damage."
RUGBY
The U.S. women finished third in the IRB World Cup Sevens in Moscow when Vanesha McGee scored in sudden-death overtime for a 10-5 win over Spain. The United States went 5-1 in the event, including a 14-5 quarterfinal win over Ireland and a 19-10 semifinal loss to eventual champion New Zealand. The U.S. men went just 1-3 at the World Cup and were eliminated when they lost 28-5 to Argentina.
ROWING
Hugh McAdam won gold medals in lightweight men’s single sculls and lightweight men’s double sculls Friday at the U.S. National Championships in West Windsor, N.J. McAdam was joined in the lightweight men’s double sculls by Kyle Lafferty. A total of 16 crews won national titles at Mercer Lake. Henrik Rummel, an Olympic bronze medalist in London last year, won gold medals in men’s pair and men’s four. Rummel was joined in the pair by Seth Weil, and then by Grant James, Weil and Mike Gennaro in the four.
MODERN PENTATHLON
Nathan Schrimsher and Margaux Isaksen won titles at the USA Pentathlon National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. Schrimsher was the senior and junior men’s champion. Dennis Bowsher finished second and Eli Bremer third in the senior championship. Isaksen won the women’s title over second-place finisher and sister Isabella Isaksen and third-place finisher Samantha Achterberg.
CANOE AND KAYAK
Casey Eichfeld, Fabien Lefevre and Zach Lokken finished seventh in the C-1 team event at the ICF Slalom World Cup in Augsburg, Germany. Lefevre also joined Michal Smolen and Richard Powell for a 10th-place finish in the K-1 team event.
EQUESTRIAN
Steffen Peters and Legolas 92 finished sixth in Dressage Sunday at the CHIO Aachen in Germany. Chester Weber and Jimmy Fairclough teamed for sixth in diving. Elsewhere, the U.S. Young Riders won gold in the three-gaited and five-gaited sections at the U.S. Saddle Seat Invitational in New Orleans.
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
Indy Synchro swimmers Jessica Giannuzzi, Victoria Baron and Noelle St. John each won three gold medals in the 18-19 age group of the eSynchro U.S. Age Group Synchronized Swimming Championships in Riverside, Calif. The Walnut Creek Aquanuts, Santa Clara Aquamaids, Indy Synchro and Riverside Aquettes each won three team titles in the event, which concluded Saturday.
BOXING
Dylan Price and Jayda Thomas won the male and female Outstanding Boxer of the Tournament awards after winning titles Saturday at the Junior Olympic National Championships in Mobile, Ala.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Sarah Robles won two gold medals and a silver at the Pan American Championships in Margarita, Venezuela. Robles, a 2012 Olympian, won the 75+ kg total and clean and jerk titles and finished second in the snatch. Three men added medals. Donovan Ford had a silver and bronze, Travis Cooper two bronzes and Colin Burns a bronze.
FIELD HOCKEY
Paige Selenski celebrated her 23rd birthday with a hat trick — all three goals coming in a 10-minute span of the second half — Sunday when the United States defeated Italy 6-0 to finish fifth at the World League Semifinal in London. The United States won its final two games at the tournament. Selenski also scored in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Spain.
BASKETBALL
The United States finished 3-0 in the preliminary round of the FIBA U19 World Championships for Men in Prague, Czech Republic with Sunday’s 115-47 rout of Russia.
JUDO
Ashlyn White used the Junior Olympic Championships in Irving, Texas, to earn spots on the U.S. Junior World Team for its competition in Slovenia in October and the Cadet World Team for its competition in Miami in August. White competes at 48 kg.
RACQUETBALL
Adam Manilla and Kelani Bailey won 18-year-old singles titles at the National Junior Olympic Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
WATER SKIING
Dylan Schaffer and Abbi Grathwohl won overall titles at the Junior U.S. Open Championships in West Chester, Ohio. Erika Lang set a points record while winning women’s tricks.
FENCING
The USA National Championships, which have featured age group competition since opening on Friday, will move to senior level competition beginning Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Tom Robinson is a freelance contributor for TeamUSA.org. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.