By: Ansha Kottapalli

Katie Ledecky, the world record holder in the 800 and 1500 free, continues to accomplish many feats, most recently beating Michael Phelps’ record of 15 individual gold medals at the world championships.

On Saturday, 26-year-old American swimmer, Katie Ledecky, won the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:08:87, winning her 16th individual gold medal at worlds, surpassing Michael Phelps’ record. Her time, however, did not beat her world record of 8:04:79 (set at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro). Ledecky is always trying to improve so she was hoping to set a personal record. She is often hard on herself, but she says, “I think I have found the balance of being tough on myself but also having that grace”(NPR).

Although Katie beat her competitor Ariarne Titmus by nearly 5 seconds in the 800 free, Titmus took gold in the 400 free with a time of 3:55:38.

Katie’s 800-free win was only the United States’ fourth gold of the tournament occurring on, “the seventh of eight days” total (NPR). At that point, Australia had already won their thirteenth gold. On Saturday, the eighth day of the tournament Australia pulled ahead by winning a total of sixteen golds. The US received the most medals by the end of the tournament, racking up 31 by the end. They were trailed by Australia who won 20 medals total and China who had 13.

In other events at worlds, Kaylee McKeown of Australia won gold for all three backstroke events – the 200, 100, and 50. These wins were crucial for Australia’s team especially because Kaylee was previously disqualified from the 200 IM, which set her team back significantly. 29-year-old Sarah Sjöström of Sweden took gold in the 50-fly with a time of 24.77. This was her fifth win in this event at Worlds. Sjöström is tied with Phelps for winning a total of 20 medals at the Olympics.