Ledecky wins shortest, longest races
Harting earns first trip to Olympics
OMAHA, Nebraska, June 17, (AP): Katie Ledecky’s most grueling night at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials resulted in two more victories.
She didn’t seem bothered at all to have to swim her shortest and longest events about 70 minutes apart.
The 24-year-old from the nation’s capital won the 200-meter freestyle first. She rushed off to the practice pool to warm down as best she could, then it was back to the arena for the 1,500 free - roughly the equivalent of a mile and a new event for the women at the upcoming Olympics.
It was a totally different race, stressing endurance over speed, but it looked just the same.
Ledecky touched the wall far ahead of everyone else, giving her a third individual race at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics. Her winning time was 15 minutes, 40.50 seconds, well
SWIMMING
off her 2018 world record (15:20.48) but fastest in the world this year.
Ledecky has already pondered the significance of the inaugural women’s 1,500 free.
About time, she said.
Erica Sullivan was nearly a half-lap behind, but she knocked more than 4 seconds off her personal best to take the expected second Olympic berth in 15:51.18.
The 200 free was one of four gold medals that Ledecky won at the Rio Games. She’ll get a chance to defend that title after winning in 1:55.11, a full body length ahead of the field.
Allison Schmitt, who won the event at the 2012 London Games, is headed to her fourth Olympics at age 31 after holding off Paige Madden by one-hundredth of a second for the runner-up spot behind Ledecky.
Schmitt’s time was 1:56.79, which gives her a likely individual event in Tokyo as well as a spot on the 4x200 free relay. Madden and Katie McLaughlin, who was fourth in 1:57.16, will also be going to the Olympics as relay swimmers.
As Schmitt crossed the deck, her longtime teammate and good friend Michael Phelps raced down from the stands to give her a long embrace. Both swimmers have disclosed their struggles with depression even while performing brilliantly in the pool.
Ledecky already won the 400 free, though she wasn’t as fast as expected. She’s also heavily favored in the 800 free, another race she won at Rio, which means she could swim as many as four individual events and perhaps a couple of relays at the Tokyo games.
Zach Harting earned his first trip to the Olympics with a victory in the men’s 200-meter butterfly.
Harting, a 23-year-old from Huntsville, Alabama, won with a time of 1:55.06 after a restless night.
Harting is already making plans to get the customary Olympic rings tattoo.
Gunnar Bentz, who was among the swimmers involved in Ryan Lochte’s infamous night in Rio five years ago, touched after Harting in 1:55.34 and will get the expected second spot in the event.