Katie Ledecky Sets 1500-meter Freestyle World Record at World Championships VIDEO
American swimmer Katie Ledecky brought home the gold at the World Championships while smashing a current world record.
The 16-year-old swimmer competed in the 1,500-meter freestyle on Tuesday in Barcelona. With a winning time of 15 minutes, 16.52 seconds, Ledecky shattered Kate Ziegler's former world record time of 15:42:54. Denmark's Lotte Friis came in second and also beat the former world record, according to The Washington Post.
However, that was not the only record the Maryland native broke in the pool this week. During the 400-meter freestyle race on Sunday, Ledecky walked away with gold while also out pacing the former American record with a time of 3:59:82.
Gold medal winner at last year's London Olympics, Ledecky is no stranger to high-pressure competitive racing.
"I knew we were going pretty fast, and I figured that whoever was going to come out on top was probably going to get the world record," Ledecky told Reuters. "So I just had to be careful not to push it too early or push it too late and just touch the wall first."
The American team picked up several other medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal from Olympian Missy Franklin in the 100-meter back, a gold from the women's 400-meter free relay team, and another gold in the men's 100-meter back by Matt Grevers, according to Swimming World Magazine.