Claire Weinstein, 16, became the first American to beat Katie Ledecky in a 200m freestyle final in nine years, relegating Ledecky to runner-up at the U.S. Swimming Championships on Wednesday.
Weinstein won by two hundredths after overcoming a 28 hundredths deficit to Ledecky in the last 50 meters. Weinstein clocked 1:55.26, lowering her personal best going into the meet by 1.45 seconds.
“I just wanted to make the [world championships] team again,” said Weinstein, who was runner-up to Ledecky at last year’s trials to make her first world team.
Ledecky is still the fastest American this year at 1:54.96 from March to rank fifth in the world and by finishing second Wednesday still qualified to race the event at July’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
SWIMMING NATIONALS: Broadcast Schedule | Results
Ledecky said before nationals that she would say after the meet whether she will race the individual 200m free at worlds. Last year, she won the 200m free at trials, then dropped it from her worlds program in part because the 200m free semis and 1500m free final were in the same session at worlds, as they are this year.
Before Wednesday, the last American to beat Ledecky in a 200m free final was 2012 Olympic champion Allison Schmitt in January 2014.
Last year, Weinstein, who trains in Las Vegas, led off the victorious U.S. 4x200m free relay at worlds and became the youngest world swimming champion since 2007, according to Bill Mallon of Olympedia.org.
Weinstein was also 10th in the 200m free at 2022 Worlds.
Nationals continue Thursday, live on Peacock.
Also Wednesday, Regan Smith took the 200m backstroke in 2:03.80, the fifth-best time in history, after prevailing in the 200m butterfly on Tuesday.
World champion Lilly King held off NCAA champion Kate Douglass to win the 200m breaststroke in 2:20.95, the second-best time of her career. King made the U.S. team in every breaststroke event at the Olympics and worlds dating to 2016.
Douglass, the Olympic 200m individual medley bronze medalist, has now made the world team in the 100m free (winning that event Tuesday) and 200m breast, a rare double.
World champion Ryan Murphy won the men’s 200m back, extending his streak of making every Olympic and world team in that event dating to 2015. World bronze medalist Shaine Casas was 13th in the heats, missing the top eight-man final.
Rising University of Texas junior Luke Hobson won the men’s 200m free in 1:45.18. He’s joined on the world team by Olympic 400m free bronze medalist Kieran Smith.
Matt Fallon went from seventh at 100 meters to win the men’s 200m breast in 2:07.71, 61 hundredths ahead of Josh Matheny. Nic Fink, the top American at the last Olympics and worlds (fifth at both), finished fourth Wednesday.
Michael Andrew edged Dare Rose by nine hundredths in the 50m fly, which is not an Olympic event but is held at worlds.
Caeleb Dressel, the five-time Tokyo Olympic champion coming back after taking months off from swimming last year, was third in an event where only the winner was guaranteed a world spot.
Dressel, who was 29th in the 100m free prelims on Tuesday, has two events left, the 100m fly on Thursday and the 50m free on Saturday. He entered nationals ranked ninth and 16th in the nation in those events this year by best time.
Gretchen Walsh smashed Torri Huske’s American record in the women’s 50m fly by 27 hundredths, clocking 25.11 to become the joint-third-fastest woman in history.
