Stanford senior Simone Manuel was part of a world record and Cardinal sophomore Katie Ledecky earned her first silver medal at the FINA World Championships for swimming on Wednesday in Budapest.
Manuel joined Lilly King, Matt Grevers and Caeleb Dressel in winning the 400-meter mixed medley relay in a world best 3:38.56.
It’s just the second time the event has been held at a world championship but it took on new meaning with it being added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Now that it’s an Olympic event we’ve really been putting a lot more thought into it,” King said. “It’s more than just who has the fastest swimmers. It’s who has the best strategy. There are many more factors that go into it.
In the finals, the Americans bettered the record set in the prelims by their counterparts: Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, Kelsi Worrell and Mallory Comerford. All eight receive a god medal.
“It’s pretty cool that we could have had two separate relays and gone 1-2,” Grevers said. “That just shows the awesome depth of the USA. We went two world records with eight different people. I don’t know how often that happens.”
It probably happens as often as Ledecky earns a silver medal at the world championships. She was unbeaten in 12 previous world championship races. Her only other international silver medal came at last year’s Olympics in the 400-meter free relay.
“Maybe I haven’t been as on point as I would have hoped this week, but I’ve still been feeling good, and I think that was mostly a matter of how I executed my race,” Ledecky said. “It wasn’t anything too wrong or anything additional to that. I’m still learning how to manage expectations but I don’t think any of that had any effect on me.”
Ledecky’s record in major international competitions, which included two Olympic Games, a Pan Pacific Championship and three World Championships, is 22 gold and two silver medals.
Ledecky, the defending World and Olympic champion in the 200 free, couldn’t find the extra energy she can usually conger up down the stretch. She tied Australia’s Emma McKeon for second in 1:55.18.
“I just try to stay focused on my own race plan,” Ledecky said. “It didn’t quite go as I had hoped, so I’ll review the race video and see where I kind of slipped up. But that’s some good motivation for moving forward.”
Current world record holder Federica Pellegrini of Italy took gold in 1:54.73.
“As I was only fourth at the Olympic Games last year, this is a great success for me,” Pellegrini said. “I was thinking of the medals but I never thought it would be gold! What a nice gift for the last 200 freestyle of my life.”
Stanford junior Abrahm DeVine swam 10th, with a time of 1:58.01, in the semifinals of the men’s 200-meter individual medley, just missing a spot in the finals.
Stanford’s Sam Perry, competing for New Zealand, was 51st overall in the prelims of the 100 free with a time of 50.14.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA swimming
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA swimming
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA swimming