Ledecky wins US 1,500-meter free title

LOS ANGELES

Katie Ledecky closed out the U.S. swimming championships on a high note on July 1, winning the 1,500m freestyle in an impressive 15min 29.64sec to book a fourth individual event at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Ledecky, who set the world record of 15:20.48 in the same Indianapolis Natatorium pool in 2018, posted the sixth-fastest time ever and now owns the top 15.

After checking the scoreboard, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist pounded the water in delight, having cleared the taste of a dissatisfying time in her 400m free win on June 30.

"It's amazing what a morning off can do," Ledecky beamed. I just wanted to finish on a good note.

"I really don't like ending a meet with a bad swim so I just really wanted to have a great swim tonight. I think that's the first time I've been under 15:30 since the pandemic, so I'm really happy with that," she added.

Katie Grimes, winner of the 400m individual medley, booked another World Championships event with a distant runner-up finish in 15:58.34.

Kate Douglass claimed her second title of the meet with an impressive 200m individual medley win in 2:07.09 -- second-fastest in the world this year behind McIntosh's 2:06.89.

Alex Walsh was second in 2:07.89.

Carson Foster, silver medalist at last year's World Championships in Budapest, won the men's 200m medley in 1:56.19.

Shaine Casas, who the eighth and last qualifier for the final, grabbed second in 1:57.47 to earn a World Championships berth.

Bobby Finke, winner of 1,500m and 800m freestyle gold at the Tokyo Olympics, completed a distance free double with a win in the 800m in 7:40.34. Dant Ross was second in 7:48.10.