The story appears on

Page A4

August 24, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Swimming

Ledecky breaks 400 free world record to overshadow Phelps

IT’S not often that Michael Phelps gets upstaged in the pool, especially when he wins. But that’s exactly what happened at the Pan Pacific championships in Gold Coast, Australia, yesterday.

Phelps won his first individual gold medal at an international meet in two years to show that his comeback to swimming is gathering momentum and he is on course to add to his stockpile at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

But the greatest swimmer of all time was overshadowed by his American teammate Katie Ledecky, who smashed her own world record in the women’s 400 meters freestyle final.

Just 17 and getting better each time she dives in the water, Ledecky was in a class of her own at as she cruised to victory in three minutes, 58.37 seconds.

She slashed almost half a second off the previous world record she set in California earlier this month, despite being under world record pace with 100 meters to go. “It’s a good feeling,” she said at poolside. “I was just racing my best time and trying to swim faster.”

Ledecky also holds the women’s world record for 800 and 1,500 freestyle and is riding high on a wave of success.

Already a world and Olympic champion, she has picked up four gold medals at the Pan Pacifics — the 200, 400 and 800 individual events plus the 4x200m relay — and is emerging as the sport’s biggest star.

For the past two years, another American teenager has been the hottest kid on the blocks but Missy Franklin has had a wretched time this week.

She almost pulled out of the meet because of back spasms but with the Pan Pacs doubling as the US trials for next year’s world championships, she decided to swim in pain. Franklin achieved her goal of qualifying for the world championships despite being beaten in each of the three individual events she won at last year’s worlds.

Yesterday, she faded to finish outside the top three in the 200 backstroke, four seconds off her own world record, with the victory going to Australia’s Belinda Hocking.

American Tyler Clary won the men’s 200 backstroke while South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan took the 400 freestyle ahead of next month’s Asian Games.

Phelps won the 100 butterfly — an event he captured at three successive Olympics — in 51.29 seconds, after reaching the halfway mark in sixth place then unleashing a devastating burst.

“I guess it feels good to win again, it’s been a while,” Phelps said.

“I’m pretty happy and it sets me up for a pretty good worlds.”

Australia’s Alicia Coutts won the women’s 100 butterfly before the host finished off the night by narrowly beating the US to win both the men’s and women’s 4x100 freestyle relays.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend