On a warm May evening in Florida, Katie Ledecky reclaimed the oldest prize in her own book. She lowered her 800m freestyle world record to 8:04.12 at the 2025 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, erasing a mark that had stood since the Rio Olympics.
Nine years, seven tenths, one final kick
The 16‑lap race at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center turned at the 550‑meter wall. Ledecky surged early through 400 meters, briefly gave ground, then grabbed the lead back and began to press. Three hundredths of a second inside record pace entering the last length, she heard the crowd rise loud.
She answered with a closing split of 28.46, more than half a second quicker than the 28.99 she used to close her 2016 standard. When she touched, the board showed a margin of 0.67 seconds over her old 8:04.79. The nearest competitor, Jillian Cox, finished in 8:23.58, almost twenty seconds behind.
A record book written by one hand
The swim gave Ledecky her 16th individual long‑course world record. The gap between her two 800m free records — ten years and seven months — is the longest interval between world‑record swims in the same event in the sport's history. She now owns every one of the top ten all‑time performances in the distance.
The four‑time Olympic champion in the 800m has held the event since she was fifteen. Since moving to train under Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, she has cracked 8:10 five times, breathing fresh speed into a reign that spans London 2012 to Paris 2024.
“I’m not letting this opportunity go to waste”
Ledecky told USA Swimming the moment felt different. “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,” she said.
The record capped a week that already included her fastest 400m freestyle since Rio and her second‑fastest 1500m ever. For the first time in nearly a decade, the oldest Olympic distance had a new line above it.