By: By Brayden Yin

Last Saturday, at Duna Arena in Budapest, Katie Ledecky, considered one of the most prodigious swimmers of all time, won another gold medal for the 400 free event. However, there are many more ways to remember this race. For example, a 15-year-old Canadian in the next lane was a great challenger, and the world record holder was absent.

Ledecky’s medal was the 16th of her career, at world championships, which is five medals more than anybody before her. She wanted also to focus on her time, which was 3:58.15, a short two seconds behind the world record. The world record is 3:56.40, which is held by Ariane Titmus. Ledecky focused mostly on her time: “I wanted to push to the point of pain tonight,” were her exact words. It was the fastest she’d ever been at world championships, and she is very optimistic about the rest of the meet.

The runner-up in the 400 free was Summer McIntosh, a Canadian. She was a serious challenger throughout the event, and, getting a time of 3:59.39, became the fourth female swimmer in history to swim the 400 free in under four minutes. The only other competitors to ever do this are Titmus, Ledecky, and the Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini. The bronze medalist, Leah Smith, took the medal in 4:02.08, the seventh medal of her career.

Wondering why Titmus, the world record holder, was not at the meet? Earlier this month, she said there was a reason why she wasn’t at worlds: “And I really don’t care — it doesn’t bother me that I’m not going to be in the headlines or the media or the spotlight when the world championships are on. That’s not why I swim. I swim because I love it and I want to perform on the biggest stage, which for me is the Olympic Games.” She simply decided that she did not have to go to the meet.

Ledecky, one of the greatest swimmers of all time, is setting up a possible three-way competition between herself, Titmus, and McIntosh.