Katie Ledecky Swims 4:01.04 In The 400 Freestyle To Dominate At Southern Zone Sectionals

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

2025 Southern Zone South Sectional Championships

• February 13-16, 2025
• Plantation Aquatic Complex — Plantation, Florida
• LCM (50 meters)
• Psych Sheets
• Full Results: “Southern Zone South Sectional Championships” on MeetMobile

14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledeckylaunched herself to the top of the season’s world rankings in the women’s 400 freestyle yesterday, swimming 4:01.04 to dominate the event at the Southern Zone Sectionals. No other woman has broken 4:09 this season, but Ledecky has now dropped a pair of 4:01s, as she clocked 4:01.27 in prelims. 

Ledecky Split Comparison, Prelims vs. Finals

Both her prelims and finals swims are faster than she went at this meet a year ago. Last year, she swam 4:05.48 in prelims before winning with a 4:02.39. In the lead-up to the Olympics, she first dipped into the 4:01 range at the San Antonio Pro Swim Series in April (4:01.44). She wasn’t faster than this winning time until May, when she broke 4:00 at the Atlanta Classic (3:59.44). 

Ledecky’s final time is just .18 seconds off the 4:00.86 she swam to win bronze in her opening event at the Paris Olympics. Summer McIntosh, one of Ledecky’s two biggest competitors in the 400 freestyle, also raced at this meet, though the two did not race head-to-head. McIntosh skipped the 400 freestyle after becoming the second female swimmer to break 8:10 in the 800-meter freestyle with a Canadian record of 8:09.86 on the meet’s first day. 

Other Event Winners 

Isabel Iveyand Ethan Ekkdid doubles on Saturday night and walked away with two wins each. First, Ivey won the 200 IM, clocking 2:14.01. After only racing the event in long-course meters twice since 2019, Ivey picked this event back up in 2023. She’s made steady improvements since, culminating in a lifetime best of 2:10.09 for third at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. Later in the meet, she was back on the blocks for the 50 freestyle. She touched in 25.72 for the win, about a half-second from her lifetime best 25.21. 

Ekk, 17, is slated to head to Stanford this fall. He swam 56.48 for his first event win of the night in the 100 backstroke, .43 seconds from his lifetime best. His other event win came in the men’s 400 freestyle and while he was not as dominant as Ledecky’s 16.60-second margin of victory, he still won handily. He stopped the clock at 3:54.19 and was the only swimmer in the field to break four minutes. Again he neared his lifetime best, which stands at 3:53.35 from the 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials. 

There was a closer race for the men’s 50 freestyle title. Bolles School Sharks’ Liam Carrington, an NC State commit, grabbed the win by matching the lifetime best 23.44 he swam in prelims. He won by two-hundredths over Jacob Rubin. Coming into the meet, Carrington’s lifetime best stood at 23.55 from last June. 

Grant Sanders and Brynn Lavigueurwon the day’s other individual events. Sanders picked up the men’s 200 IM win in 2:03.77, while the 17-year-old Lavigueur won the women’s 100 backstroke with a 1:03.27. 

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