USA Swimming News

World record holder and two-time defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky kicked off night one of the Toyota U.S. Open Championships in Atlanta, Ga., with a meet record in the women’s 800m free, while Brazilian Guilherme da Costa took home the men’s title.

Ledecky posted a winning time of 8:14.59 in the event, cutting nearly 10 seconds off the U.S. Open meet record of 8:24.36, set by Stephanie Peacock. Australian Kiah Melverton touched almost 12 seconds behind in 8:26.08, with Olympic bronze medalist Leah Smith in third at 8:27.49.

Da Costa took control of the men’s 800m free around the 350m mark and never looked back, stopping the clock at 7:47.37 for the win. Jordan Wilimovsky, who recently qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s 10k open water race, claimed second in 7:49.76, while Zane Grothe took third in 7:51.53.

Tomorrow’s preliminary races are scheduled to start at 10am EST, with finals kicking off at 7pm EST. Make sure to check out USA Swimming.org for results and a live webcast of all events.

USA Swimming News

Ledecky Wins 800m Free to Kick off Toyota U.S. Open

Connect With Our Community

Related Articles