A Week of Katie Ledecky Stats: How Many Times Inside Rebecca Adlington’s Former World Record?
A little more than a week after she stunningly lowered her world record in the 800-meter freestyle to 8:04.12, Swimming World continues its Week of Katie Ledecky Statistics. Each day for a week, we’ll run a short piece that highlights Ledecky-related stats, numbers that place additional context on her legendary career.
When Katie Ledecky first broke the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, the year was 2013 and Ledecky was a mere 16 years old. She was already an Olympic champion by that point in her career, having secured her initial gold medal at the 2012 Games in London.
At the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Ledecky entered competition in pursuit of Rebecca Adlington’s world mark in the 800 free. That time of 8:14.10 was recorded by the British star en route to gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and endured until Ledecky went 8:13.86 in Spain.
Ledecky’s world record marked the first of six she has set in the 800 freestyle, with the global standard sliced by 9.98 seconds between that first record and what Ledecky popped at the TYR Pro Series stop in Fort Lauderdale. But here’s an even more incredible stat to digest.
During her career, Ledecky has produced 38 performances faster than the 8:14.10 of Adlington, the first world record she broke in the 800 free. THIRTY-EIGHT! Meanwhile, only four other women (Summer McIntosh, Ariarne Titmus, Paige Madden and Li Bingjie) have gone faster than Adlington’s former world record, achieving the feat a combined nine times.