Swimming World Championships: McKeown, Ledecky Bags 20th World Title

FUKUOKA: American Katie Ledecky claimed her 20th world swimming title on Tuesday after winning the women’s 1,500m freestyle.

Ledecky came home in 15 minutes and 26.27 seconds to finish ahead of Italy’s Simona Quadarella on 15:43.31 and China’s Li Bingjie on 15:45.71.

Ledecky claimed her fifth world title in an event in which she has dominated, having swum the top 15 fastest times ever.

Ledecky lost her crown to Quadarella in 2019 when she was forced to pull out due to illness.

She bounced back to win the event at the Tokyo Olympics and then regained her world title last year in Budapest.

Ledecky could become the first swimmer to win six titles in one event if she claims gold in the 800m freestyle this week.

“It’s just a lot of hard work and really great people around me,” she said when asked about the secret to her success.

Ledecky has already won one silver in Fukuoka, finishing second behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle on the competition’s opening night.

Australian Kaylee McKeown won the women’s 100m backstroke title.

McKeown came home in 57.53 seconds to beat Regan Smith of the United States on 57.78 and American Katharine Berkoff on 58.25. Agencies

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