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Katie Ledecky swims second-fastest 1500 freestyle at Pro Series Swim

Marcus D. Smith, USA TODAYJanuary 15, 2026 at 5:08 AM

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Katie Ledecky continues to prove she's the greatest female swimmer ever whenever she steps foot into a pool.

The nine-time Olympic gold medalist posted the second-fastest swim ever in the 1,500-meter freestyle competition during the 2026 USA Swimming Pro Swim Series event in Austin.

She finished in 15 minutes and 23.21 seconds, placing first in the Austin championship. Ledecky holds the record time at 15:20.48, which she set back in 2018, per Olympics.com.

"I'm really happy with that, it was faster than I was all last year," Ledecky said after the race. "It was my second-best ever. I had pretty low expectations coming into today, so that definitely blew it out of the water."

Reminder to NOT take for granted the fact that we live in the Katie Ledecky era of swimming 🥶🥶🥶 pic.twitter.com/y6aPAWneMC

— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) January 15, 2026

Finishing second and third were Brinkleigh Hansen of St. Petersburg, Florida, who finished in 16:31.31 and Becca Mann of Homer Glen, Illinois, who finished in 16:35.09.

Ledecky praised her training staff for pushing her to her limits and preparing her for the competition.

"Training has been incredible," Ledecky said. "I have a really great group of distance swimmers at Florida and it's been really hard the last month. That hard training gives me a lot of good confidence, which always helps."

Katie Ledecky are you SERIOUS?! 🤯🫨She just went 15:23.21 in the Pro Swim Series - Austin 1500m Freestyle, marking the second-fastest swim EVER. pic.twitter.com/m83NRMVKZu

— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) January 15, 2026

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