Katie Ledecky’s dominance knows no bounds

Having dominance over a sport is a rare thing. Sure, everyone has heard of Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, or in a swimming context, Michael Phelps. Depending on the popularity of the sport, there are other iconic names who don’t necessarily dominate their game. Think Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter.

But swimming is different. Yes, everyone knows about Phelps’ eight golds, and those who closely followed the sport during the Olympics might know of others like Missy Franklin. But what about Katie Ledecky?

On Sunday, January 17, 2016, Ledecky lowered her own world record in the 800 meter freestyle (16 laps in an Olympic-sized pool), going an 8:06.68. She did this in an Arena Pro Swim Series meet, a meet that is hardly known for breaking world records. But exactly how fast is this?

Her splits from her world record, via @USASwimStats on Twitter

Let’s check out the last six world records in the women’s 800m free.

2016 - Katie Ledecky - 8:06.68
2015 - Katie Ledecky - 8:07.39
2014 - Katie Ledecky - 8:11.00
2013 - Katie Ledecky - 8:13.86
2008 - Rebecca Adlington - 8:14.10
1989 - Janet Evans - 8:16.22

Note that in the 2012 London Olympics, Ledecky went an 8:14.63 en route to winning a gold medal. This means that in four years, she lowered her personal best by almost eight full seconds. In fact, nobody except for her has ever beaten Adlington’s world record, meaning her January 17th swim wasn’t only a new world record, but was more than seven seconds faster than anybody else…ever.

So what, though? She’s insanely good at the 800m free. That doesn’t make her dominant at the sport.

But you’re excluding all of her other achievements.

First, some background: the 800m free is a distance event. The only other “true” distance event is the 1500m free (the mile). The mid-distance events, which most distance swimmers are good at, include the 200m and 400m free, while the 50m and 100m free are definitively sprint. Let’s go through these events, shall we?

Ledecky, unsurprisingly, holds the world record in the 1500m with a 15:25.48. She has single-handedly lowered this world record by 17 seconds.

The 400m free world record in 2009 was a 3:59.15, by…not Ledecky. In fact, it was set by Francesca Pellegrini, an Italian swimmer wearing a suit that is now illegal. Breaking four minutes is a rarity in the 400m, and nobody tends to go even close to that record…except for Ledecky, who now owns it. Her time? 3:58.37, almost a second faster than a record that was essentially illegal. In the Arena Pro Swim Series meet, she went a 3:59.54.

Pellegrini still currently owns the 200m free record with a 1:52.98. However, it was also set in 2009 with the same illegal suit.The fastest time with a legal (or textile) suit? Allison Schmidt, with a 1:53.61. However, Ledecky won this even at the 2015 World Championships, and her current best time is a 1:54.43. Not far behind Schmidt’s time, and especially good for a distance swimmer.

In the 100m free, Ledecky isn’t even in world record contention. It’s a sprint event, and it was set…you guessed it…with the same illegal suits. (It’s a 52.07 thanks to Britta Steffen.) However, her best time, also set at the Arena Pro Swim Series Meet, is a 53.75. A sub-54 second 100m free is blazing fast for anyone, and her 53.75 puts her in the top five in the world this year. An impressive achievement for someone who was supposed to be a distance swimmer. Ledecky hasn’t swam the 50m free this season, but hey, you never know what could happen.

In fact, she’s top five in the world this year for every freestyle event she’s swam (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m), an amazing quintuple that could only be compared to the great Ian Thorpe. Talk about dominance.

But the craziest thing about Ledecky? I’ll leave it to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to tell you.