Katie Ledecky Hits The Pool For First Olympic Race And Its Business As Usual

Katie Ledecky’s teammates are already piling up Olympic medals. Now it’s her turn, and she wants some hardware of her own.

Ledecky opened her Olympic program as the top qualifier in the 400-meter freestyle on Sunday night, setting up a showdown with Ariarne Titmus of Australia as the American star tries to defend her title.

Ledecky advanced with a time of 4 minutes, 0.45 seconds. Titmus was third-quickest in 4:01.66. The first of their multiple showdowns in Tokyo comes in the final on Monday morning.

FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT via Getty Images Underwater view of Katie Ledecky in her 400 meter heat.

“It’s going to be a great race with Ariarne,” Ledecky said.

Ledecky will be looking to carry forward the momentum her teammates built on the first day of the meet, when the U.S. earned six of 12 medals Sunday.

“Definitely feeling the energy from our team,” she said. “Really great session this morning, so just trying to feed off that and get my meet rolling.”

But Ledecky can expect a fight from Titmus.

“I’d like to think I’ve got a bit more in the tank for the final,” the Aussie said.

ATTILA KISBENEDEK via Getty Images Katie Ledecky puts on her game face after winning her 400 meter heat.

Ledecky won the 400 free with a world-record time five years ago in Rio. Titmus, the new star in Australian swimming, took down Ledecky at the 2019 world championships. She handed the American her first loss in the event at a major international meet, overtaking Ledecky in the final 50 meters to win by a full second.

“I know I’ve done the work,” Titmus said. “I’ve just got to go out there and do the easy part of this whole situation.”

China’s Li Bingjie qualified second in 4:01.57. Also making the final was American Paige Madden.

Maddie Meyer via Getty Images Katie Ledecky, shown winning her 400 meter heat, has an upcoming showdown with Australia's Ariarne Titmus in the final and likely in other races.

Ryan Murphy has some work to do if the American is going to defend his title in the 100 backstroke. He qualified eighth in 53.22 seconds for the 16-man semifinals. Kliment Kolesnikov of the Russian Olympic Committee led the way in 52.15. Also moving on were Mitch Larkin of Australia, Ryosuke Irie of Japan and ROC swimmer Evgeny Rylov.

“Luckily, I was in the last heat so I could see how fast the guys went,” Murphy said. “I just concentrated on my race based off that.”

In the women’s 100 breaststroke, South Africa’s Tatjana Schoemaker led the way in an Olympic-record time of 1:04.82.

Lydia Jacoby, the first U.S. Olympic swimmer from Alaska, was second at 1:05.52.

“To have my whole state of Alaska backing me, I know they’re up at 2:30 a.m. watching me, it’s been great,” she said.

American Lilly King, the defending gold medalist and world recordholder, was third-quickest in 1:05.55.

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“I’m just kind of riding the wave I’ve been riding the last five years and hopefully it will all turn out all right,” King said.

Yulia Efimova of the Russian Olympic Committee, the silver medalist in Rio, advanced to the semifinals in eighth.

The Italian team of Alessandro Miressi, Santo Condorelli, Lorenzo Zazzeri and Manuel Frigo qualified fastest for the men’s 4x100 free relay in 3:10.29. The U.S. team of Brooks Curry, Blake Peroni, Bowe Becker and Zach Apple was second at 3:11.33.

South Korea’s Sunwoo Hwang was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 200 freestyle in 1:44.96. Also advancing to the semifinals were 16-year-old David Popovici of Romania, Duncan Scott of Britain and Americans Townley Haas and Kieran Smith, who earned a bronze medal earlier Sunday in the 400 free.

Kaylee McKeown of Australia topped the 100 backstroke qualifying with a time of 57.88, capping the third straight heat in which the Olympic record was lowered. Also advancing were Americans Regan Smith in second and Rhyan White in sixth, and Kylie Masse of Canada in third.

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