Results / Broadcast Info 

The fireworks started early on the final night of the TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale as Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club) capped a week of incredible races. Nine years after she set the mark at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Ledecky lowered her women's 800-meter freestyle world record with a time of 8:04.12. The time shaved six-tenths of a second off the previous record and now gives Ledecky the top ten performances of all time in the event.  

Later in the session, Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club) continued her streak of record performances as she lowered her world record in the women's 100m butterfly. After breaking the record during this morning's preliminary session, Walsh posted her second world record of the day and became the first woman to break the 55-second mark with a final time of 54.60. 

In the women's 100m backstroke, Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics) added to the list of record performances as she set a new TYR Pro Swim Series record with a time of 57.46. Taking the title in the women's 200m breaststroke by more than two seconds, Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club) established the second-fastest time of the year with a 2:20.78.    

USA Swimming athletes return to action at the Toyota National Championships, June 3-7 at the Indiana University Natatorium. 

Women’s 800m Freestyle – FINAL  

1 – Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club), 8:04.12* 

2 – Jillian Cox (Cedar Park, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics), 8:23.58 

3 – Claire Weinstein (White Plains, N.Y./Sandpipers of Nevada), 8:26.06 

*World record 

Ledecky on her new world record: “I can’t stop smiling, it's been like that all week though, so it’s not really new. It’s been so many years in the making to do it tonight. It’s been an incredible night. There is always a story to each world record that I set. I think tonight is the first one I’ve done when another American has done it. Hats off to Gretchen (Walsh) for getting us rolling this morning and starting a world record party. The crowd was amazing tonight; I couldn’t have done it without that. I flipped at the 750, and it was loud in here, and I just told myself I’m not letting this opportunity go to waste and started sprinting.”  

Ledecky on when she knew the record was in reach: “It felt good. The first person I saw going nuts was Greg (Meehan). He was on the announcer's podium and was really waving before everyone else was, maybe around the 300, and then everyone got into it around the 500. I tried to hold the same pace. I know not to react or get too excited too early.” 

Greg Meehan, USA Swimming National Team Managing Director, on Ledecky’s accomplishment: “I’m filled with emotion from seeing her journey. From 2012, with what she did, to her triumph in Rio, to the ups and downs of being a superstar and the pressure to do that every time she races from the expectations of those fans seeing her for the first time, to see her now at 28 years old is beyond inspiring. I’m just so proud of her on a personal level. We’ve had many shared experiences, and I’m incredibly proud of her.” 

Meehan on what witnessing this record means: “Those who have had any opportunity to interact with Katie, from fans to officials to teammates to coaches, know what kind of person she is. Those swims do not happen by accident. It’s fun to sit back and see her be in that moment and celebrate that. I am sure she is flooded with all of the feelings she has had from 2016 to now.” 

Marchand on Ledecky and G. Walsh’s world records: “That was crazy. Katie is the goat. Doing that well for that long is insane. It’s so inspirational and pretty amazing to watch that. And Gretchen too, it’s another level and it’s amazing to see.” 

Men’s 800m Freestyle – FINAL  

1 – Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./Saint Petersburg Aquatics), 7:50.79 

2 – Gabriel Manteufel (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 8:03.23 

3 – Luke Ellis (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 8:04.60 

Finke on the difficulty of his schedule: “That was probably the hardest race of the week. I was hoping to be a little bit faster; I was trying to be around 7:47 or so. That’s still my best in-season, and I can’t be too disappointed with it, but I was hoping to be a little faster.” 

Finke on his training partner’s world record: “I can’t wait to give (Ledecky) a proper congratulations. That was absolutely insane. I was in the ready room listening to the announcers still saying she was under the world record pace at the 300, 350, 400 and then I think she fell off and then went back on it. I came out and watched the rest of the race. It was pretty remarkable what she was able to do.” 

Finke on the dynamic with Ledecky: “It’s incredible to have her around not only as a training partner but to experience the kind of person she is. She is one of the biggest leaders and role models I know. I looked up to her when she won her 2012 gold medal. Having someone like that around makes you want to be better.” 

Women’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL  

1 – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics), 57.46* 

2 – Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./Wolfpack Elite), 58.79 

3 – Kylie Masse (CAN), 58.90 

*TYR Pro Swim Series record 

Smith on her race: “I kept telling myself not to spin (my arms). I can tell if I’m going to have a good 100 back because it will almost feel like I’m not working hard enough on the first 50, but I know that it means I’m not overworking it. I was trying to remind myself to not overdo it, and it ended up working out.” 

Men’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL  

1 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 53.14 

2 – Jack Harvey (BER), 54.56 

3 – Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./Unattached), 54.69 

Women’s 200m Breaststroke – FINAL  

1 – Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club), 2:20.78 

2 – Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 2:22.91 

3 – Leah Hayes (Sugar Grove, Ill./Cavalier Aquatics), 2:27.60 

A. Walsh on her race: “To be 2:22 right now, I feel really good about that. I really relied on Kate (Douglass) to help me pace myself through that. I’m really happy I got to do that with her.” 

Men’s 200m Breaststroke – FINAL  

1 – Denis Petrashov (KGZ), 2:10.29 

2 – Carles Coll Marti (ESP), 2:11.09 

3 – Lyubomir Epitropov (BUL), 2:11.82 

Women’s 100m Butterfly – FINAL  

1 – Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 54.60* 

2 – Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club), 56.59 

3 – Alex Shackell (Carmel, Ind./Carmel Swim Club), 57.31 

*World record  

Race note: G. Walsh also earned a world record in prelims for her 55.09 swim.  

Walsh on her second world record of the day: “To be honest with you, I didn’t change any part of my race strategy going into tonight. It was still going to be the goal to take 17 strokes on the way out, hopefully one less stroke coming back home. I have found that taking one less stroke has given me that extra energy, so I just did the same exact thing tonight. I was long in my turn and my finish as well, which I’m kind of happy about because I can go faster. I look forward to perfecting that race. If it was perfect, I wouldn’t feel the confidence that I could go faster, so I’m excited for more, but definitely did not expect to drop that much in the race tonight. It has been a trend for me at this meet to go faster at night – every race I was able to do that. There's something that happens with finals, maybe it's the day of rest, maybe it's the nap, but there’s just extra energy I find, and I just continue off the momentum of the morning. I was slightly nervous, but I think I’ve learned how to handle that pressure and look at the race as another opportunity to execute and do the plan that I talk about every day with Todd (Desorbo). What a crazy time, I honestly shocked myself.” 

On breaking time barriers: “I need to set some new goals. It was shocking, I did not expect to be here doing this. I knew I was going to be having fun out here. I love swimming outside and getting to see my friends again. It’s been a long NCAA season where you don't see everyone that is a pro, so I’ve had a great time, and it has helped that I’m going really fast. I think this bodes really well for everything to come this summer. I definitely need to keep working and finding new motivation because I have surpassed so many barriers I talked about prior to the season. I might have to get creative with goals, not make them time-based, I think that helps me see it more as an opportunity to execute, versus having to go by a time. I’m really happy with where I’m at. I’m looking forward to getting back to Charlottesville, graduating, and beginning this pro journey. It started on such a high note; this is going to be awesome.”  

On how she spent the afternoon knowing she had to swim two finals this evening: “I’ve been going to the beach every day. I love the ocean. I’ve grown up by the ocean my whole life. I find a lot of comfort and peace when I’m by the beach, so I have been out there enjoying it every day. I love being here in Florida. I do that, then I get back to my room, take a two-hour nap, and then back to the pool. I have gotten the best sleep of my life; I have been so happy here.”  

On what she is taking away from this meet: “The overarching theme that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. I’ve always believed that, but at times it has been hard for me to do that. When I’m having fun, everything seems to be going my way, so I want to carry that throughout the rest of the summer and look at every race as an opportunity.  

Men’s 100m Butterfly – FINAL  

1 – Ilya Kharun (CAN), 50.42* 

2 – Bjoern Kammann (GER), 51.95 

3 – Julian Koch (UAE), 52.29 

*TYR Pro Swim Series Record  

Women’s 200m Individual Medley – FINAL  

1 – Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 2:08.84 

2 – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics), 2:10.25 

3 – Leah Hayes (Sugar Grove, Ill./ Cavalier Aquatics), 2:11.52 

A. Walsh on her double: “My races were great. I definitely felt like I really threw myself through a loop with only doing the 50 (breaststroke) yesterday and then having the double today. That was something I felt like I had to overcome, and I did and I’m really proud of myself.” 

Smith on her meet: “I feel good. Tonight was the best night out of the three nights, I think I executed my 100 back pretty well. The key for me is not overdoing the first 50 (meters), and I think I’m getting better at executing it well. 

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – FINAL  

1 – Shaine Casas (McAllen, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics), 1:56.52 

2 – Leon Marchand (FRA), 1:57.27 

3 – Carson Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays), 1:58.78 

Casas on holding off Marchand: “That was good. I thought I would be out of it faster. I remember looking and Hubert Kos was already coming off the wall, and I was like, ‘I’m the one that’s supposed to be out front.’ I just went to my legs on breaststroke, freestyle, took a good turn, and hit some underwaters for once. It was a solid race, I was kind of frustrated with the time. I talked to Bob and he explained that training times are times, I just need to focus on getting better.” 

Casas on beating his training partners: “It’s cool. It’s a different story when we are training, 80% of the time I am out in the back unless it’s an all-out type of set where I can resurge again to the front. Racing – we are all in it together, we are in the thick of training and hitting that shift toward faster swimming and championship times.” 

Women’s 50m Freestyle – FINAL  

1 – Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 24.33 

T2 – Kassia Wasick (PL), 24.47 

T2 – Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club), 24.47 

Todd DeSorbo, University of Virginia head coach, on G. Walsh, “I would say that I am not surprised that (G. Walsh) swam that fast, but it wasn’t expected, that’s for sure. She hasn’t raced long course since the Olympics, so it’s been 10 months. We didn’t train long course at all this season because I wanted everybody to have a mental break...as much as we put into it the Olympic year. We've only been training in the long course for four weeks. Being that we haven’t trained a ton of it and haven’t raced it in a long time, we didn’t have expectations. This definitely wasn’t expected.” 

DeSorbo on helping G. Walsh manage her afternoon break after setting a world record in the morning: “Gretchen will be the first to say that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. I think she was excited for the swim overall, and it was a shock to her a little bit this morning. Now that she has done it last year at Trials, and has broken so many records over the last year, she knows how to contain herself. She’s broken so many records over the last year and been in this situation so often that she is now becoming pretty good at internalizing it and moving on to the next race. She’s obviously pretty special.” 

Men’s 50m Freestyle – FINAL  

1 – Andrej Barna (SRB), 21.83 

2 – Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif./Sun Devil Swimming), 21.97 

3 – Quintin McCarty (Colorado Springs, Colo./Wolfpack Elite), 22.13 

Full event replays and all race highlights are available on the USA Swimming Network.