Story of the tape: McIntosh vs. Ledecky within the 800-metre freestyle

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There was a concept that Summer McIntosh was conserving vitality on the world championships in Singapore for a extremely anticipated 800-metre freestyle showdown towards Katie Ledecky.

It seems that concept was extraordinarily fallacious.

McIntosh gained gold within the 200-metre butterfly by a full three seconds on Thursday, however got here away largely aggravated that she hadn’t damaged the world document. At 2:01.99, the 18-year-old’s time was the second-fastest within the historical past of the occasion, however nonetheless fell .18 seconds in need of the mark set by China’s Liu Zige throughout the supersuit period in 2009. Watch the full race, including McIntosh’s reaction, here.

“I was so close, that’s what upsets me a little bit,” McIntosh informed CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux after the race. “If there’s one world record that I wanted to break since the start of my career, it’s this one.”

Still, the win made McIntosh three-for-three in Singapore. She’s trying to win 5 solo gold medals at worlds, a feat completed solely by American nice Michael Phelps in 2007 forward of his iconic eight-gold efficiency on the Beijing Olympics.

Watch McIntosh’s household react to her newest win here, and take a look at The Ready Room’s breakdown of immediately’s motion here.

The largest roadblock within the drive for 5 was all the time going to be Ledecky and the 800 freestyle. It already seems to be like a traditional sports activities story: the rising celebrity vs. the wily veteran.

Heats start Friday at 12:11 a.m. ET, with McIntosh and Ledecky in separate races. The closing is scheduled for Saturday at 8:17 a.m. ET. Live protection is on the market on CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca.

Here’s how they stack up:

Summer McIntosh
Age: 18
Olympic medals: 4 (3 gold, 1 silver)
World championship medals: 11 (7 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
800 freestyle private greatest: 8:05.07 (nationwide document, set in June)

McIntosh has been dubbed as the following one in Canadian swimming since her 2021 Olympic debut as a 14-year-old, when she positioned fourth within the 400 freestyle. The rise has been meteoric ever since, culminating with a Canadian-record three gold medals (plus one silver) on the Paris Olympics. In June, McIntosh raised the bar even greater, smashing three world information at nationwide trials in 5 swims.

One mark she missed? The 800 freestyle, which belongs to Ledecky. Still, McIntosh is inside a second of the American — and he or she broke the 8:10 barrier for the primary time ever this season. “I’m still learning how to swim [the 800m],” she stated at trials.

Well, it seems the Canadian is an ace scholar. In Feb. 2024, she handed Ledecky her first loss within the distance in 14 years. McIntosh has confirmed that the brilliant lights do not faze her — she’s as open about desirous to match Phelps’ medal mark as she was visibly disillusioned by lacking the 200 fly document.

McIntosh additionally gained the primary duel towards Ledecky within the 400 freestyle to open worlds, and he or she needs the smoke: “One of the many reasons I picked the 800 is because in my opinion it is the biggest challenge,” she stated. Now, she’ll attempt to seize the throne.

Katie Ledecky
Age: 28
Olympic medals: 14 (9 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)
World championship medals: 29 (22 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze)
800 freestyle private greatest: 8:04.12 (world document, set in May)

For years, Ledecky has been identified for her dominance — for the digital camera shot of her alone within the pool in an eight woman-race, or the certainly one of her swimming within the different course from her seven opponents. The American is essentially seen as the ladies’s swimming GOAT, and he or she’s pursuing a Phelps document of her personal, sitting 4 gold medals behind her ex-teammate for probably the most ever at worlds.

Through all of the accolades, Ledecky’s power has all the time been the 800. She first broke the world document in 2013 at 8:13.46 — that mark is now the Forty sixth-best. And Ledecky continues to get quicker, having reset the world document once more in May after not touching it for eight years. She’s gained 4 consecutive Olympic gold medals within the 800, and he or she owns 21 of the 25 quickest occasions ever.

McIntosh’s mark from trials, nevertheless, slots in at No. 3. Ledecky has by no means confronted strain like that from any competitor since she solidified herself amongst distance swimming’s greatest. She’s but to compete towards McIntosh in the identical pool this season, and contemplating the best way McIntosh is trending, this might be her final greatest shot to beat her.

But she’s in high kind: in Ledecky’s victorious 1,500 freestyle swim, her 800-metre break up clocked in at 8:09.57, which McIntosh has solely overwhelmed as soon as. Game on.

By the numbers

Earlier this month, The Buzzer enlisted Shoreview Sports Analytics to crunch the numbers on the McIntosh-Ledecky showdown. What the fashions produced foreshadows an exciting race.

Taking under consideration McIntosh’s lack of pattern dimension — she hasn’t swum the 800 in a serious meet for the reason that 2021 Olympics — Ledecky has a slight edge (0.24 seconds) in common anticipated vary, and an excellent slighter edge in projected quickest time (0.07 seconds), that are each within the 8:01-range.

For a better take a look at the numbers, check out Buzzer regular Jesse Campigotto’s breakdown in last Thursday’s newsletter.

On deck

* Canada’s Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun are set to go head-to-head within the males’s 100 butterfly, beginning in the identical warmth Thursday at 10:23 p.m. ET forward of semifinals Friday at 7:10 a.m. ET. Liendo and Kharun shared the Olympic podium on this occasion final summer season, snagging silver and bronze, respectively. Now, the highest spot seems up for grabs as Olympic champion Kristof Milak is skipping worlds completely. Liendo already owns a bronze at this meet from the blended 4×100 medley relay, whereas Kharun’s time in Singapore hasn’t gone fairly as deliberate after he missed the 50 fly closing and positioned fourth within the 200 fly. But it was Kharun clipped Liendo at nationwide trials in June with a personal-best time of fifty.37.

* Blake Tierney smashed the Canadian document within the 200-metre backstroke, then did it once more over the course of about 10 hours on Thursday in Singapore. The 23-year-old will compete within the closing on Friday at 7:56 a.m. ET after posting the fifth-best qualifying time at 1:55.03. The Mississauga, Ont., native would qualify as a shock medallist if he is in a position to leap into the highest three. He positioned nineteenth in Paris and now faces stiff competitors from Olympic champion Hubert Kos, silver medallist Roman Mityukov and South Africa’s Peter Coetze, who led qualifying at 1:54.22 — a time that might have gained the Olympic race.

* Canadian diver Carson Paul will compete within the males’s three-metre springboard semifinals on Friday at 2:02 a.m. ET. The closing goes at 5:32 a.m. ET. Canada continues to be in search of its first diving medal after Katelyn Fung positioned fourth within the ladies’s 10-metre platform occasion on Thursday.

How to look at

You can stream stay motion from the World Aquatics Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with further weekend protection on CBC TV. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules for particulars.

Reporter Devin Heroux is on web site in Singapore chatting with Canadians following their races, and can be part of The Ready Room present stay on YouTube each day after finals, with Brittany MacLean Campbell internet hosting from Toronto. The present will embody Canadian highlights, athlete interviews and evaluation. The present web page can be found here.