Ledecky shatters record in pro debut
Olympic gold medalist and former Stanford swimmer Katie Ledecky broke her own world record by five seconds in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday in her professional debut at the TYR Pro Series meet in Indianapolis.
Ledecky, 21, finished in 15 minutes, 20.48 seconds — more than 49 seconds ahead of second-place Erica Sullivan in the heat. Ledecky reacted to the record by smashing her fist in the water and sticking her tongue out. Her previous best was 15:25.48 on Aug. 4, 2015.
Ledecky owns the eight fastest women’s 1,500-meter times. The women’s 1,500-meter freestyle makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020.
Ledecky led Stanford to two straight NCAA championships, the program’s first titles since 1998. After the second title in March, Ledecky announced her intention to turn pro.
College golf: Brandon Wu shot 68 to lead Stanford to second place in the NCAA regional in Stockton, earning the Cardinal a berth in the NCAA championships May 24-29.
Stanford finished second in the 13-team regional (five teams advanced); Wu took second in the individual competition, one stroke behind Oregon’s Norman Xiong. Cal, Santa Clara, St. Mary’s and USF all failed to advance out of their regionals. Tennis: Fabio Fognini got the hometown crowd fired up with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over sixthseeded Dominic Thiem to reach the Italian Open’s third round in Rome.
Rafael Nadal, a seven-time Rome champion, and four-time champion Novak Djokovic also advanced. Nadal beat 31stranked Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-0 and Djokovic beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2.
In women’s action, Simona Halep defeated Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-0 for the first of two wins she needs this week to keep Caroline Wozniacki from taking her No. 1 ranking.
Also, U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens held off a comeback from Kaia Kanepi in a 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 victory.
Football: The Seattle Seahawks signed their first-round pick, running back Rashaad Penny, to his rookie contract. The Seahawks have signed six of their nine draft picks.
⏩ Phoenix was awarded the fifth franchise in the new Alliance of American Football, which will begin play the week after the next Super Bowl.
The team joins Memphis, Orlando, Salt Lake City and Atlanta in the league and will play in Sun Devil Stadium on the Arizona State campus.
Golf: The wife of former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover made the first call to 911 and claimed she was attacked by her mother-in-law, according to a tape of the call released that provided another bizarre twist in the wife’s arrest on a domestic violence charge.
Obituary: Michael Slive, the former SEC commissioner who was instrumental in turning it into arguably the most prominent college sports conference in the country, died in Birmingham, Ala. He was 77.