Katie Ledecky said that the one-year break between the swimming events did not affect her goals for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. She backed that statement on Wednesday.
Ledecky, in her first broadcast match since March last year, crushed most other top 1500m freestyle shooters in the US.
“I did not set too many expectations for this first race,” she said. “I knew the first race would fall out of the way, would be a milestone in this return trip to real racing.”
Ledecky, who holds the ten fastest times in history in the event, counted 15 minutes and 42.92 seconds. She is the overwhelming favorite in the 1500m freestyle summer, when it is presented for the first time as a women’s event on the Olympic program.
Her world record is 15: 20.48. The second fastest swimmer in history, retired Dane Lotte Friis, had the best time of 15: 38.88.
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Ledecky lost one 1500m freestyle in her lifetime – when she was 13 years old in 2010. She also withdrew before the final of the event at the 2019 World Championships due to an illness. Italian Simona Quadarella won in 15: 40.89.
Ashley Twichell, who reached the Tokyo Olympic team 10 km in the open water in 2019, was second on Wednesday, followed by Erica Sullivan. They have ranked second and third among Americans since the beginning of 2019.
Ledecky and Stanford Training Group Partner Simone Manuel chasing in their first event at the highest level since March last year.
They spent the last spring training in at least one pool in the backyard, and passed on this past fall and earlier this winter, while being normal again. They raced in their group and against those practicing in nearby Berkeley.
The San Antonio Meeting also includes Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Lochte and Regan Smith while swimmers prepare for the Olympic trials in June, where the top two per individual event are lined up to qualify for the Games in Tokyo.
The San Antonio event runs the next three nights at 8 ET on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and streams on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.
Ledecky took part in her other best events over the next three days – the 400m, 200m and 800m freestyle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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