Swimming-Pallister stuns Ledecky in 800m free as Douglass resets 50m world mark twice

Aug 15 (Reuters) – Australia’s Lani Pallister led wire-to-wire to win the 800 metre freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships on Saturday, ending Katie Ledecky’s long unbeaten run in one of the American’s signature events.

Pallister touched in 8:06.10, with world record holder Ledecky more than a second back in 8:07.26. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather was third at 8:18.81.

Ledecky’s dominance in the event at major competitions stretches back to 2012 and includes 13 international championship gold medals.

Pallister also finished ahead of her childhood idol in Friday’s 400m freestyle and won the 200m freestyle, but was quick to praise the nine-time Olympic champion after Saturday’s race.

“Katie is such a dominant force and I think it’s really important that we give her a big round of applause,” Pallister said in a poolside interview before a sell-out crowd.

“Without her, we wouldn’t have women’s distance swimming in the place where it is at the moment. To be part of that story at the moment is pretty much all because we get to chase Katie.”

Ledecky had beaten Pallister in the 1,500m freestyle on Wednesday at the outdoor meet in Irvine, California, which is seen as an early benchmark in the build-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

DOUGLASS BREAKS 50M FREE WORLD RECORD TWICE IN ONE DAY

Earlier, American Kate Douglass lowered the women’s 50 freestyle world record for the second time in a single day, clocking 23.19 seconds in the final.

Douglass had set a record of 23.49 in the morning preliminaries to reclaim the mark from fellow American Gretchen Walsh, before producing an even faster swim under the lights.

Walsh took second in 23.74, while Australia’s Meg Harris claimed third in 23.89.

Douglass and Walsh, training partners and former University of Virginia teammates, have traded the record in recent months. Douglass first set the mark in Indianapolis on June 19 with a time of 23.59, only for Walsh to lower it to 23.55 in Rome nine days later.

The five-time Olympic medallist also helped the United States set a world record in the mixed 4×100 medley relay on the opening night of the four-day meet, alongside Walsh, Mathias and Will Modglin.

China’s Yu Yiting also produced an upset in the women’s 200m individual medley, holding off a late challenge from world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Summer McIntosh.

Yu won in 2:07.45, just 0.02 seconds ahead of Canada’s McIntosh, with American Alex Walsh taking third.

McIntosh won the 400m individual medley on Thursday but had mixed results elsewhere in Irvine, finishing second in the 200m freestyle and third in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Long Beach, California; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)