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FUKUOKA, Japan – Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club) and Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics) highlighted Tuesday night at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, with golds in the 1500m freestyle and the 100m backstroke, respectively. 

U.S. athletes collected a total of six medals – two gold, one silver and three bronze – on the third night of finals, bringing the total to 14 medals after six competition sessions (3g, 6s, 5b). Ross Dant and Thomas Heilman made their World Championships (LCM) debut on Tuesday. 

Ledecky’s win in the 1,500m freestyle marks her 20th World Championships (LCM) gold medal, the first woman ever to accomplish the feat. Tonight’s victory is also her fifth-career world title in the event as she becomes the first swimmer to win five world titles in two different events (800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle). Her performance also tied Michael Phelps for the most individual world swimming titles (15). 

Women’s 1500m Freestyle – FINAL 
GOLD – Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club), 15:26.27 
Eighth – Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 16:04.21 

Ledecky on her performance: “I feel good. It hurt a lot, but I am really happy with the outcome. I'm having a lot of fun this week. Thank you to everyone in Japan for putting on a great World Championships, showing up and supporting all of us. The secret is just a lot of hard work and having really great people around me including my coaches over the last 10-plus years. Really since I started swimming when I was six. They are incredible, and also my teammates. I have really great teammates right now that push me every day and I could not do it without them.” 

Women’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL 
SILVER – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Sun Devil Swimming), 57.78 
BRONZE – Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./Missoula Aquatic Club/NC State), 58.25 

Smith on her performance: “I'm pleased with (my swim). I think all season I've kind of struggled the last 15 meters and I did again tonight. I'm proud knowing that I left it all in the pool. I can't really ask for much more. I'm never going to complain about going 57 (seconds). (That time) used to be non-existent so it's cool that I'm one of the few women who can do that.” 

Berkoff on her performance: “(This race) was definitely a good setup for next year. It was a really good learning experience, but I’m definitely not done yet. I'm just happy to be competing at the World Championships in the 100 backstroke. I still have a lot of learning to do. I'm pretty comfortable in the short pool, so I'm trying to get more comfortable in the long pool.” 

Men’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL 
GOLD – Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics), 52.22* 
BRONZE – Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club/California Aquatics), 52.58 
*First world title (LCM) in the 100m backstroke 

Murphy on his performance: “It was an incredible race. It's awesome to go against a great field and to get two Americans on the podium. It’s a nice start to my week by getting up on that podium and seeing the USA off to a great start. Hopefully we are starting to build some momentum and we keep it rolling from here. I think there have been a lot of times where I have gone out really fast, and there have been times where I have come back fast. You are really just feeling out where your body is at. Today I knew that the backend was going to be a little bit better.” 

Armstrong on his performance: “This week has definitely been a struggle. I don't know why I was struggling to do what I know I'm capable of. At the end of the day, I was able to pull through and add another medal for the USA. Considering I barely made it through twice, whatever was going to happen was going to happen. I was going to give it my best effort.” 

Women’s 100m Breaststroke – FINAL 
BRONZE – Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Club/University of Texas), 1:05.94* 
Fourth – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 1:06.02 
*First World Championships (LCM) medal  

Jacoby on her performance: “I just barely slipped into the semifinals and just barely slipped into the final. I was kind of talking down to myself a lot yesterday. I woke up this morning, I was feeling good and ready to get out there and do it. I'm really happy with where I am. I wasn't even at this meet last year so to be on the podium again is huge.” 

Men’s 200m Freestyle – FINAL 
Fifth – Luke Hobson (Reno, Nev./Lakeridge Swim Team/University of Texas), 1:45.09 
Seventh – Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield Aquatic Club), 1:46.10 

Men’s 50m Breaststroke – SEMIFINAL 
Sixth – Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club), 26.95 
The final will be contested on Wednesday, July 26. 

Women’s 200m Freestyle – SEMIFINAL 
Fourth – Bella Sims (Henderson, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 1:55.45* 
12th – Claire Weinstein (White Plains, N.Y./Sandpipers of Nevada), 1:57.03 
*Personal best and the eighth American woman in history to go under 1:56.  
The final will be contested on Wednesday, July 26. 

Men’s 200m Butterfly – SEMIFINAL 
First – Carson Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays), 1:53.85 
Seventh – Thomas Heilman (Crozet, Va./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:54.57 
The final will be contested on Wednesday, July 26. 

Men’s 800m Freestyle – PRELIM 
Fifth – Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics/Gator Swim Club), 7:43.87 
19th – Ross Dant (Hickory, N.C./Hickory Foundation YMCA/Wolfpack Elite/NC State), 7:54.23 
The final will be contested on Wednesday, July 26. 

Competition continues Wednesday, July 26 with prelims at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 8 p.m. local time. In the U.S., prelims are Tuesday, July 25 at 9:30 p.m. ET with finals at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 26. 

The World Aquatics Swimming Championships medal table, sorted by federation and by athlete, can be found here. For more on the U.S. team at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, visit here.