Katie Ledecky recorded a dominant victory in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle on Saturday night as USA Swimming’s Phillips 66 National Championships wrapped up in Indianapolis.
Ledecky clocked a 15:29.64, beating second-place finisher Katie Grimes by over 28 seconds. In addition to becoming the 2023 national champion, Ledecky now also owns the top 15 times in the event’s history.
Kensey McMahon placed third with a time of 16:07.78.
It was also a memorable night for Bobby Finke, who recorded a 7:40.34 to win the men’s 800-meter freestyle. He set a U.S Open record in the process, breaking the mark of 7:43.32 that he set last year. It was an extremely strong finish for Finke, who completed the last 50 meters in 26.80 seconds.
Ross Dant came in second at 7:48.10, while Will Gallant finished third at 7:50.75.
Carson Foster took the men’s 200m medley with a time of 1:56.19. Shaine Casas came in at 1:57.47, and Trenton Julian followed just behind him at 1:57.94.
In the men’s 50m freestyle, Ryan Held finished in 21.50 seconds to pick up the victory. Jack Alexy (21.63 seconds) and Michael Andrew (21.64) came in second and third, respectively.
In the other women’s events, Kate Douglass’ 2:07.09 was enough to get past Alex Walsh (2:07.89) in the 200m medley, and Abbey Weitzeil finished the 50m freestyle in 24 seconds on the nose to edge Gretchen Walsh (24.31).
–Field Level Media
