Katie Ledecky lowers own world mark in 800 freestyle

Katie Ledecky lowers own world mark in 800 freestyle

Published Aug. 8, 2015 12:21 p.m. ET

KAZAN, Russia (AP) Katie Ledecky has lowered her own world record by 3.61 seconds in winning the 800-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships.

The 18-year-old American completed the 16-lap race in 8 minutes, 7.39 seconds Saturday night, bettering her time of 8:11.00 set last year at a meet in the United States.

Ledecky completed a sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Kazan. She swam the anchor leg on the victorious 4x200 free relay too, giving her five golds with one day remaining in the meet.

She was 3.09 seconds under world-record pace with three laps remaining. Ledecky tore off one of her two swim caps and smashed the water with her hand in celebration.

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