Steve Burns
WMAL.com
BETHESDA (WMAL) — There is now a new world record in the 1500-meter freestyle swimming event, and it was set this week – not once, but twice – by 18-year-old Katie Ledecky of Bethesda.
The new world record, which now stands at 15 minutes, 25.48 seconds, was set at the World Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia. Ledecky broke the record that she herself had set the day before in a qualifying heat by over two seconds.
“I’m not surprised. I’m really not surprised,” said Stone Ridge School Communications Director Connie Mitchell. “She’s just reached a really great physical milestone in terms of her stamina, her technique. She’s just at a really great point.”
Ledecky holds all but one record at Stone Ridge, which she graduated from in May. Mitchell said she’s at the top of her game. “Everyone else has risen to the surface of the water and starts their stroke while she’s still underwater kicking. She’s just at a different level.”
“I think it definitely has inspired more attention to our swim program,” Mitchell said. “I think what she also did was, those who were there with her and came up behind her, are brought to a higher level in their swimming capability.”
But despite the success, Mitchell said Ledecky remains modest.
“I definitely think she did it all with a lot of class. Her mentality wouldn’t be to beat everyone in sight.”
Ledecky has deferred her enrollment at Stanford University for a year, and will remain at home, training with the Nation’s Capital Swim Club in preparation for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
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