Ledecky wins 1,500m freestyle for 20th world title; McKeown wins 100m backstroke

American Katie Ledecky claimed her 20th world swimming title on Tuesday after winning the women’s 1,500m freestyle.

Ledecky came home in 15 minutes and 26.27 seconds to finish ahead of Italy’s Simona Quadarella on 15:43.31 and China’s Li Bingjie on 15:45.71.

“I feel good — it hurt a lot but I’m really happy with the outcome,” Ledecky said.

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Ledecky claimed her fifth world title in an event in which she has dominated, having swum the top 15 fastest times ever.

Ledecky lost her crown to Quadarella in 2019 when she was forced to pull out due to illness.

She bounced back to win the event at the Tokyo Olympics and then regained her world title last year in Budapest.

Ledecky could become the first swimmer to win six titles in one event if she claims gold in the 800m freestyle this week.

“It’s just a lot of hard work and really great people around me,” she said when asked about the secret to her success.

“My coaches over the last 10 plus years, really since I started swimming when I was six, have been incredible.

“And I have really great teammates right now that push me every day. I couldn’t do it without them,” she added.

Ledecky has already won one silver in Fukuoka, finishing second behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle on the competition’s opening night.

MCKEOWN TRIUMPHS IN BACKSTROKE

Australian Kaylee McKeown won the women’s 100m backstroke title.

McKeown came home in 57.53 seconds to beat Regan Smith of the United States on 57.78 and American Katharine Berkoff on 58.25.

“It means a lot — I’ve had a hard 48 hours but it was great being amongst these girls and being against the Americans,” said McKeown.

“They bring out the best. I loved every minute of it.”

The race had been billed as a first showdown between Olympic gold-medallist and world record-holder McKeown and defending world champion Smith.

Between them, the pair hold the six fastest times in the event, although McKeown owns the top three.

McKeown sounded a warning shot by swimming the third-fastest time ever at the Australian trials last year.

McKeown was disqualified from her 200m individual medley semifinal on Sunday after an illegal transition from backstroke to breaststroke.

“If you’re not learning, you’re not growing, so I had to find a positive and a negative and that’s exactly what I did,” she said.

“I channelled it and made it work.”