SANTA CLARA, Calif – World record-holder Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Stanford Swimming) posted the fifth-fastest swim of all-time in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle Thursday to open the arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara at George F. Haines International Swim Center.

Swimming the event for the first time since 2015, Ledecky led from the start and touched in 15 minutes, 35.65 seconds – nearly 40 seconds clear of the field. She now owns the six fastest times ever in the event, led by her 15:25.48 world record from the 2015 FINA World Championships.

“I wanted to try to put together a good swim. I was maybe a little aggressive on the first 50, but I was able to settle into a pretty good rhythm and pick it up the last 100m,” Ledecky said. “I wasn’t able to bring in my legs in the middle of the race the way I wanted to, but that’s where I am with training right now. I was pretty surprised with the time based on how it felt. It didn’t feel as fast as a 15:35, but I’m happy with that.”

Chile’s Kristel Kobrich was second in 16:12.89.

Finland’s Matias Koski won a tightly contested men’s 800m free in 8:00.29 with Marcelo Acosta of El Salvador second in 8:01.28 and True Sweetser (Hernando, Fla./Stanford Swimming) third in 8:01.44.

Three days of television coverage from Santa Clara will air on NBC Sports Network, including live telecasts at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday and Sunday. The Saturday action will be broadcast on delay at 1:30 a.m. ET on June 4. All three finals sessions also will be streamed live via NBC Sports. A live webcast also will be available at usaswimming.org.