Ledecky edges Titmus, sets pace in 400m freestyle heats

Within the opening act for what guarantees to be an exciting showdown on the primary day of swimming on the Paris Olympics, 2016 gold medalist and former world-record holder Katie Ledecky set the highest mark of the ladies’s 400m freestyle preliminary heats Saturday morning in Paris.

FULL RESULTS

Ledecky completed in 4:02.19 after chasing down and overtaking Australia’s Ariarne Titmus – the Tokyo gold medalist and present world report holder – within the final 100m of the third and ultimate warmth.

Warmth 2 featured the third former world-record holder, Canada’s Summer season McIntosh. Nevertheless, McIntosh completed one tenth behind New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, the 2024 world champion (within the absence of Ledecky, Titmus and McIntosh). 

The 4 swimmers have been separated by simply 0.46, setting the stage for what many have anticipated as a “race of the century” caliber ultimate scheduled for two:52 p.m. ET.

The tempo will likely be upped considerably in that ultimate, with all 4 swimmers boasting private bests properly south of 4 minutes.

Titmus’ world report at the moment stands at 3:55.38, set on the 2023 world championships, the final main meet to function the Aussie, Ledecky and McIntosh. It would seemingly take a brand new all-time mark to win gold in Saturday’s ultimate.

Protection of Saturday’s finals session begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and extra.