In perhaps the most assured victory of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, Katie Ledecky produced another dominant performance in the 1,500-meter freestyle on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium, winning her third title.
Ledecky has won the 200 and 400 freestyle events, but she won't compete in the sprint events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she is also the favorite to win the 800 freestyle before leaving Indy.
Ledecky, a 10-time Olympic medalist, finished in 15 minutes 37.35 seconds, more than half a lap ahead of runner-up Katie Grimes, who finished in 15 minutes 57.77 seconds.
“I would have liked to have gone a little faster, but this is good,” said Ledecky, who holds six individual gold medals, the most by a female swimmer in Olympic history. “I'll be better in the next few weeks.”
Grimes' second individual event win in Paris was after her win in the 400-meter individual medley. She will swim indoors and outdoors at the Olympics, as well as compete in the 10-kilometer open water race.
Kate Douglas won the women's 100m freestyle, while Simone Manuel recovered from overtraining syndrome to finish fourth and qualify for the relay.
Manuel became the first black woman to win a gold medal when she tied for first place in the individual swimming event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, but was denied the opportunity to compete in the 100m freestyle at the Paris Games.
Tori Huske took second place individually.
In the 100 freestyle, Douglas was in fourth place at the turn but ran strong the rest of the way to win in 52.56 seconds. Husk finished in 52.93 seconds, and Gretchen Walsh fell from the lead at the halfway point to take third place in 53.13 seconds.
Manuel was runner-up in 53.25, along with fifth-place finisher Abby Weitzeil (53.70), who will likely also compete in her third Olympics as an option on the relay.
Manuel will have another chance to compete in the individual Olympic event in the 50m freestyle, but it was clear he was emotional just to compete in the relay.
“To me, this win means more than anything,” Manuel said, breaking down in tears in front of a crowd of 22,209. “Just being able to stand here and race again is a miracle. Those close to me know how far I've come to get to this point, and I'm really proud of myself and of Team USA.”
Manuel won two gold and two silver medals at the Rio Olympics, a breakthrough for a swimmer of color in a predominantly white sport, but her body broke down under the strain of overtraining syndrome ahead of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.
USA Swimming filmed a timelapse of the three-week transformation of Lucas Oil Stadium into three swimming pools.
Manuel did not even qualify to defend his title in the 100m freestyle, but he did qualify in the 50m freestyle. He lost in the semifinals in his only individual event in Tokyo, and his only medal came as the anchor of the third-placed 4x100m freestyle relay team.
After the Olympics, she was instructed by her doctors to cease all physical activity for at least six months to give her body time to recover properly.
Douglas won a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley in Tokyo, establishing herself as one of America's most versatile swimmers.
She has won a total of 14 medals over the past three world championships in every event, from freestyle to breaststroke to individual medley and relays.
Now she's back at the Olympics.
So was 17-year-old Thomas Heilmann, who won the 200-meter butterfly and became the youngest U.S. male Olympic swimmer since Michael Phelps, who was 15 when he was selected for the Sydney Olympic team.
Eighteen-year-old Luke Whitlock took that honor the night before with a second-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle, before adding another youngster to the team as Heilman took his first win in 1:54.50.
“It's going to be amazing and I'm looking forward to spending time with the team and building relationships that will last a lifetime,” Heilman said. “Going to the Olympics is a once in a lifetime experience and I want to cherish every moment.”
Luca Urlando took a predictable second place in Paris with a time of 1 minute 55.08 seconds.
