Gretchen Walsh units one other world file in 100m butterfly as Katie Ledeck and Leon Marchand additionally win on closing evening of Fort Lauderdale Open 2026

The stars of world swimming closed out the fourth and closing evening of the Fort Lauderdale Open 2026 in fashion on Saturday (2 May) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Katie Ledecky – essentially the most embellished U.S. feminine swimmer in historical past – clocked a 8:12.68 within the ladies’s 800m freestyle to finish her marketing campaign on the outside occasion with a straightforward win.

Ledecky had additionally gained within the ladies’s 1500m freestyle on Wednesday (29 April) with the fifth quickest time in historical past, however completed behind Canadian celebrity Summer McIntosh in each the 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle over the weekend.

Later within the night, Ledecky’s American teammate Gretchen Walsh introduced the gang to its toes as she set one other new world file within the 100m butterfly in 54.33, persevering with her domination of this occasion – with the 13 quickest instances ever recorded in it. 

French star Leon Marchand backed up his males’s 400m particular person medley win on Friday (1 May) by taking the 200m IM on Saturday, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion and world file holder clocking a 1:57.28.

Kate Douglass gained the ladies’s 200m breaststroke in 2:20.94 earlier than closing out the evening with a speedy effort within the 50m freestyle, her 24.21 simply forward of Walsh at 24.40. 

It was a shock end within the closing occasion of the evening, as 31-year-old Estonian Ralf Tribuntsov gained a chaotic males’s 50m free in 22.24. American Chris Giuliano, who continues to make a reputation for himself within the freestyle races, was second at 22.27, whereas Olympic nice Caeleb Dressel completed eighth.