American swimming legend Katie Ledecky cruised to victory in the 400m freestyle final on the opening night of the US trials for Paris 2024.
It booked her a ticket to her fourth Games and set up another showdown with Ariarne Titmus.
In a temporary pool built inside the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, Ledecky was cheered on by a crowd of 20,689 as she touched the wall in three minutes and 58.35 seconds.
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She improved on her time of 3:59.99 in the morning heats, but was still just shy of three seconds slower than Titmus had swum in the Australian trials in the past week.
Titmus is the defending Olympic champion and world record holder (3:55.38) in the 400m freestyle.
Teen Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh is also expected to contend for the top spot on the podium in France.
The 27-year-old Ledecky is set to swim four events at her nation’s trials, all of them freestyle events ranging from 200m to 1500m.
She already has six individual gold medals — more than any female swimmer in Olympic history.
“I’m pretty excited,” Ledecky said after the victory ceremony.
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“I never imagined I would go to a fourth Olympic Games.”
The expected second spot on the Olympic team will go to Paige Madden, the runner-up behind Ledecky at 4:02.08.
Aaron Shackell, a local favourite from suburban Carmel, earned his first trip to the Olympics with a victory in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Shackell touched in 3:45.46 to hold off Kieran Smith, the bronze medallist in this event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Smith used a strong finishing kick to claim the runner-up spot in 3:45.76, which should be enough to get him back to the Summer Games.
The top two in each individual event are expected to make the powerhouse American team.
Ledecky and Shackell were both overshadowed on the opening night of the trials by Gretchen Walsh. The 21-year-old from the University of Virginia set a world record in a semi-final heat of the 100m butterfly with a time of 55.18.
Walsh was more than a half-second under world record pace at the turn and finished strong to eclipse the mark of 55.48 set by Sweden’s Sarah Sjöstrom at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Walsh held her hand over her mouth as she looked at the scoreboard in disbelief, a “WR” beside her name, but she’s still got some work to do to make her first Olympic team.
The 100m butterfly final on Monday (AEST) also includes Torri Huske, Regan Smith and Claire Curzan — all medallists at the Tokyo Games. Shackell’s sister, Alex, also advanced to the final and will be looking to join her sibling on the Olympic team.