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• Full Results

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Five-time Olympic champion and world record-holder Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Nation’s Capital Swim Club/Alto Swim Club) cruised to a victory of more than 27 seconds in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle Saturday for her fourth win at the TYR Pro Swim Series at Knoxville.

Ledecky, who also won the 200m and 400m free and 400m individual medley this week at the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, led wire-to-wire in the 1500m free to touch in 15 minutes, 45.59 seconds. She has held the world record in the event, which will be contested at the Olympic Games for the first time in 2020, since 2013.

“It’s good to race in January. We’re in heavy training right now, so I didn’t really have any expectations I just wanted to get in and race and just get 2019 started,” Ledecky said. “I go back to Stanford tomorrow and have a good block of training.”

Olympic champions Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics) and Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Alto Swim Club/First Colony Swim Team) also were victorious for the second straight night. Murphy won the men’s 200m backstroke by 2 seconds in 1:56.16, while Manuel won the women’s 100m free in 53.42. National Team member Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Riptide Swim Team) also earned win No. 2, taking the women’s 200m back title in 2:07.53.

World champion Chase Kalisz (Bel Air, Md./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) claimed the men’s 200m IM easily in 1:57.68, while fellow Olympic medalist Melanie Margalis (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics) won the women’s 200m IM in 2:10.43. Michael Chadwick (Charlotte, N.C./Team Elite) closed out the meet with a victory in the men’s 100m free in 49.17.

Knoxville favorite Molly Hannis (Santa Rosa, Calif./Tennessee Aquatics) won the women’s 50m breast in 30.69, while Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) took the men’s 50m breast in a TYR Pro Swim Series record 27.34.

Denmark’s Anton Ipsen claimed the men’s 1500m free title for his third win in Knoxville in 15:16.19.

After four stellar days of competition in Knoxville, the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series resumes March 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Tickets for the event are on sale now at usaswimming.org/racingtime.

Across the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series, swimmers may earn increased awards for top-three finishes. At each meet, $1,500 will be provided for a first-place finish, $1,000 for second and $500 for third. In addition, one athlete per gender with the highest-scoring prelim swim in an individual Olympic event based on FINA power points will win $1,500.

The TYR Pro Swim Series was brought to Knoxville in partnership with the Visit Knoxville Sports Commission and Tennessee Aquatics.

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