Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Gretchen Walsh win third titles at Nationals, History Calls at Worlds

Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke and Gretchen Walsh have closed the Toyota US Swimming Championships by each winning their third event of the meeting on Saturday.

They will lead the American team at the World Championships in July and August in Singapore.

Ledecky extended a 15-year wintreak in the 1500m Freestyle, an event where she has the 23 fastest times in history. She clocked 15 minutes, 36.76 seconds and distanced the field in Indianapolis for more than 25 seconds.

This year Ledecky has the fastest times in the world in the 800m and 1500m milling and had the best time in the 400m to the 18-year-old Canadian Summer Mcintosh the world record broke later on Saturday.

SWIMMING: Result

If Ledecky wipes her three individual events and is part of a winning 4x200m free relay on Worlds, she will move a shy of the general record 26 world titles of Michael Phelps.

She is also a medal shy by Ryan Lochte for the second total medals in the history of the championships. Phelps earned 33, Lochte had 27 and Ledecky is at 26 in general.

The Australian Ariarne Titmus, the Olympic 400m free gold medal winner and 800m free silver medal winner, is taking a break of competition this year.

The primary competition of Ledecky will therefore be Mcintosh, the Olympic 400m free silver medal winner prior to Ledecky.

McINTOSH is also the second fastest woman in history in the 800m free behind Ledecky. She didn’t raced it at the Paris competitions, but said last week that she could do this in Singapore.

This year, Walsh has the world’s top times in the 50m and 100 meter butterflies and the 50m free, which she won at Nationals on Saturday. Walsh Bond training partner Kate Douglass’ American Record of 23.91 seconds.

She is looking for her first individual title for a large international meeting in a 50 -meter swimming pool. Walsh won seven gold medals and broke nine individual world records at the World Short Course Championships last December in the less used 25-meter Pole.

Finke won the 800m and 1500m Frees at Nationals – his two Olympic gold medal events – plus the 400m individual medley, although he will not race that event on Worlds. The 1500m free and 400m im -final are in the same session in Singapore.

Finke is already a world champion in the 800m, but in the 1500m he will offer to become the first American man to win that event in Worlds since Tim Shaw in 1975.

On Saturday, Jack Alexy also won the men 50m for free in 21.36 seconds and became the second fastest American in history behind Caeleb Dressel. This year Alexy has the world’s top times in both the 50m and 100m milling.

Shaine Casas and Alex Walsh won the 200m individual medleys of the men and women in the fastest and second fastest times in the world this year, respectively.

American championships emphasizes the air on Sunday at 2 p.m. at NBC.