American Swimmer Ledecky Sets World Record, Phelps Gets Silver in Olympic Pool
Superstar American swimmer Katie Ledecky has smashed the world record in the women's 800-meter freestyle event at the Rio Summer Olympic Games, while fellow American Michael Phelps was upset by a swimmer from Singapore in the men's 100-meter butterfly.
Ledecky became the first swimmer since American Debbie Meyer in 1968 to sweep the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle events in a single Olympics. Her time Friday of eight minutes, 4.79 seconds improved on her own world record by nearly two seconds. Ledecky also owns a gold and silver in relay events.
Earlier in the Rio pool, Joseph Schooling of Singapore led the men's 100-meter butterfly from start to finish, edging out Phelps, who swam faster than he had done while winning the same event four years ago in London. It was a stunning upset, with an even more remarkable result: Phelps finished in a three-way tie for second place with two of his long-time rivals, Chad le Close of South Africa and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh.