Swimming news - Katie Ledecky kicks off Olympic year with 46.83 second freestyle victory

Updated 06/03/2020 at 13:18 GMT

Katie Ledecky began her Olympic year with a 46.83 second victory in a 1500m freestyle at a Tyr Pro Swim Series meet on Wednesday.

Katie Ledecky

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Ledecky's time of 15:29.51 was the fifth-fastest ever recorded, and the swimmer now boasts the 10 fastest times in the new Olympic event.

“It’s March — we don’t gear up for this meet in any special way,” Ledecky said while acknowledging that she performed six seconds better than the 2019 world-leading time she achieved at the US Open in December.

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Leah Smith, who is herself an Olympic medalist in the 400m and 800m disciplines, came in second with a time of 16:16.34.

Ledecky has gone undefeated in both the 800m and the 1500m since winning the 2012 Olympic 800m free at age 15.

She is aiming to swim the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle races at the Tokyo Games, as well as the 4x200m free relay.

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