Scorching 1,500m return for Olympic great Ledecky in Florida

Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky made a blistering return to the swimming pool on Wednesday, clocking the second fastest 1,500m freestyle in history in heats at the TYR Pro Series meeting in Florida.

The 28-year-old American star, who has not raced in an elite event since last year’s Paris Olympics, touched the wall in Fort Lauderdale in a time of 15min 24.51sec.

That was just outside her own world record of 15:20.48 set in Indianapolis in 2018, and some 39.62sec faster than her next fastest rival, Jillian Cox.

“I’m pretty fired up,” Ledecky said. “I’ve been training really well and feeling good going into this meet, but you never know.

“It’s not like it’s the biggest meet of the year or anything, I just wanted (my time) to be a season best, which would have been 15:36. I’m pretty ecstatic.”

Ledecky now owns the 22 fastest times ever in the 1,500m freestyle, and has not been beaten in the event since she lost a race in Maryland way back in 2010 when she was just 13 years old.

Ledecky, who won her first Olympic title at the 2012 London Games, has already indicated she plans to extend her career to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Her time on Wednesday was around five seconds quicker than her winning time in the 1,500m final in Paris last August.

“I don’t feel like I’m close to being finished in the sport yet,” Ledecky said of her plans for the future after her win in Paris last year.

“I think all the US athletes are thinking about how cool that could be in Los Angeles having the home crowd. So that would be amazing to be able to compete there.”