ledecky.jpg
Getty Images

Katie Ledecky extended her reign in the 800-meter freestyle Saturday at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, winning her seventh consecutive world title in the event with a championship-record time of 8:05.62. The 28-year-old held off Australia's Lani Pallister (8:05.98) and Canada's Summer McIntosh (8:07.29) in a character-testing final that featured the three fastest women in history over the distance.

Ledecky, trailing McIntosh at the 700-meter mark, surged ahead on the final lap, fending off a hard-charging Pallister as McIntosh faded in the closing meters. 

With the win, Ledecky remained undefeated in the 800-meter freestyle finals event on the world stage dating back to 2012. She has now gone 11-0 in major international titles in the event, including four Olympic golds.

The latest gold at the world championships is Ledecky's 23rd career world title, putting her within three of Michael Phelps' all-time record of 26. It's also her 30th career world championship medal overall.

McIntosh, 17, entered the race with three gold medals already at the Singapore championships and was bidding to become the first swimmer since Phelps in 2007 to win five individual world titles at a single meet. That bid came up short as Ledecky's late-race push sealed her place atop the podium once again.

The Toronto teenager had beaten Ledecky at a U.S. meet in 2024, briefly ending Ledecky's years-long dominance in the event, but opted not to swim the 800 at the 2024 Paris Olympics to focus on other races. She remains one of the sport's brightest young stars, and Saturday's race could be a preview of future showdowns, possibly at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Ledecky remains the only woman in history to win the same individual event at four Olympic Games -- in any sport -- having won 800-meter gold in London (2012), Rio (2016), Tokyo (2021) and Paris (2024).

At 28, she was the oldest swimmer in the final and showed no signs of slowing down.

With her seventh world title in a single event -- something no other swimmer has achieved -- Ledecky has once again solidified her status as one of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen.