American swimmer Katie Ledecky is making history again. She broke the female record for most swimming world medals after Team USA took gold on Wednesday's 4x200 freestyle relay final of the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest. The win gave Ledecky her 21st medal at a world competition.
Ledecky had shared the record with Natalie Coughlin. On the men's side, Michael Phelps still holds the record with 33 medals, followed by Ryan Lochte with 27. Wednesday's win became Ledecky's 18th gold medal at a worlds competition -- her other three are silver.
The Americans were in third place before Ledecky took the last leg. She gave her team the edge by clocking a 1:53.67 split, which was the fastest of her career and also the third fastest in history. The Team USA quartet of Claire Weinstein, Leah Smith, Bella Sims and Ledecky registered a championship record time of 7:41.45. Australia took silver (7:43.86) and Canada took bronze (7:44.76).
A championship record for @TeamUSA!
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) June 22, 2022
The women's 4x200m freestyle relay team set a championship record to win gold!@USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022 pic.twitter.com/7weRsYnRft
"It's so easy to get up for these relays and just not think and go," Ledecky old NBC Sports. "I had so much trust in these three. I think we're always counted out, and we always deliver."
Ledecky also earned the 400-meter freestyle gold medal on Sunday and the 1,500-meter freestyle gold medal on Monday. The 25-year-old can still pick up more hardware at the 2022 World Championships. She is set to swim in the 800-meter freestyle on Thursday, with the final scheduled for Friday.
