Ledecky becomes the first swimmer to win five world championships in a row

Ledecky, in the 800 free meters. ANTONIO BRONIC (REUTERS)

The stubborn image of the New Yorker Anita Álvarez sinking in a faint went around the world and inexorably referred to an illusory idea of ​​the

team's capsizing when Katie Ledecky threw herself into the pool at the Budapest World Cup as if with each stroke she intended to refloat to the United States Army.

To the aircraft carriers, to the cruisers and to the destroyers.

That is what Ledecky is for, an international symbol of reliability and power reflected in unprecedented figures in the history of swimming.

After her sweeping 16-length cruise through the 800m final, she won her 19th world title all-discipline and became the first person – male or female – to win five consecutive golds in the same event.

The free 800 was his without any reply.

As always, since she entered the London Games at the age of 15 and 15 kilos less, the girl born and raised in a wealthy neighborhood in Washington made the distance much more than a standard of resistance.

She turned it into a sustained speed test.

In Budapest, Ledecky established herself as the greatest long-distance runner of all time in a race that found her in a situation that seems familiar to her: alone, at least 20 meters from her closest pursuer.

“I just focus on my street,” she said, when someone asked her how she managed to stimulate herself when no one was harassing her and she was isolated in her overwhelming superiority to glide like her body was made of wood. raft.

Ledecky touched the last plate in 8 minutes and 8.04 seconds.

The Australian Kia Melverton did it 14 seconds later and the Italian Simona Quadarella 15 seconds later.

The record of the champion was the fifth best mark in history.

Far from the 2016 Games record 8m 04.79s, but a second faster than last year's Games.

Since 2018 she has not gone below 8 minutes 9 seconds.

"Yes, I'm happy with the weather," she said.

"I thought she could be in eight minutes and six or seven seconds, but eight minutes and eight seconds spiked is a good mark."

More information

FINA prohibits Anita Álvarez, the swimmer who fainted, from participating in the team final at the World Cups

Nine of the 32 men who qualified to swim the 800 at these Worlds swam the morning heats with times worse than Ledecky's 8.8 in the final.

It is precisely in the daily contrast with the superior average power of men that now keeps her excited.

Since she joined the Olympic long-distance running team at the University of Florida in Jacksonville a year ago, her preparation —especially in the psychological aspect— has changed substantially.

"Training with men like Boby Fink or Kieren Smith, medalists in Tokyo, has been a change for me," she said.

“I tried to keep up with them as much as I could.

They have put a lot of pressure on me and I hope that my presence has served them well.

I have worked a lot on my stroke and pace and this is just the beginning of a new cycle in my career.”

"Here we are, ten years later"

Ledecky has set her sights on reaching the Paris Games in 2024. She was a stripped-down teenager when she reached her first major title in 800 in 2012. The Amphitrite who emerged from the Danube pool sported angular hips and an ox back.

She pretended that she did not attach too much importance to a feat that she had inwardly obsessively set out for herself.

Her seven Olympic golds and 19 outright world golds later she showed up in the gallery leading to her dressing room with her usual expressionless face.

He barely drew a smile when they mentioned the statistical dimension of his career.

“It's been year after year of hard work,” she said.

“Winning the 800 at the 2012 Games was a blast, and here we are, ten years later.

I feel very proud of that.

And I'm excited about the future."

The future of swimmers over the age of 25 is often uncertain.

However, there are signs of prosperity in Ledecky's inaccessible universe.

If the final 100 meters that closed the 800 of the 2015 World Championships are broken down, the American recorded 30.56s in the penultimate length and 30.70s in the last.

Until now, she was the best shot of her World Cup.

In Budapest her acceleration improved: she swam in 31.00s between passing the 700 and 750, and she flew in 30.68s in the last lap.

Exhausted from the effort, she clung to the lane rope and gritted her teeth as she verified the 8.8 mark.

As if she were sorry she hadn't pushed a little harder in the first 500. Beneath the freshly quarried marble face she seethed inexhaustible ambition.

The kind of force that, fired Caeleb Dressel, pulls from the United States Army.

Kristof Milak's military walk for the 100 butterfly

There are virtuosos who suffer the effects of psychological pressure.

Whether of exogenous or endogenous origin, social or intimately personal.

They end up tormenting themselves in the cauldron of their own perfectionism and sometimes beat a retreat giving up before the battle, like Caeleb Dressel, who left the World Swimming Championships in Budapest despite having registered the best mark of the year in 100 butterfly: 50 .01 seconds.

The one who did not withdraw was Kristof Milak, the Hungarian national hero, who performed at home and did so in the emotional antipodes of his great rival.

Absolutely sure of himself, he did not need to credit the best times of the season to feel that the gold belonged to him, with or without Dressel, because he swam at home.

That's how it went. 

Milak swam without pressure the race that everyone had pointed out as the great event of the championships.

The duel with Dressel that never took place, due to the mysterious discharge "for medical reasons" of the American.

Milak took the gold for a ride.

He got it in 50.14 seconds.

Far from the top ten brands in history.

Far from his possibilities, but enough to receive a series of thunderous ovations from his audience, injected with nationalist fervor as befits a show promoted by the prime minister of Hungary, the populist Viktor Orbán.

“Breaking the world record never crossed my mind,” Milak said proudly.

“After breaking the 200 butterfly world record two days ago and with some Europeans ahead of me, I have to rest.

I'm not a robot”. Unlike Dressel, who is 25 and counting the summers that will never return, Milak at 22 looks to the future with pride.

As if Fukuoka and Paris belonged to him.

Budapest surrendered to him without offering resistance.

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