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Katie Ledecky overtakes Summer McIntosh in Tyr Pro Swim Series, her best time in nine years

Katie Ledecky overtook Summer McIntosh in the 400m freestyle in a possible World Championships preview on Thursday night.

Ledecky trailed McIntosh by 85 hundredths at the 300-meter mark, then zoomed by McIntosh to win by 1.47 seconds in 3:56.81 at a Tyr Pro Series meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It’s the fastest time ever in an American pool, the seventh-fastest time in history anywhere and Ledecky’s second-best time ever after her win at the 2016 Olympics (3:56.46, which was the world record until 2022).

“I don’t know if I ever thought I was going to be 3:56 again,” Ledecky said on Peacock.

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McIntosh was 1.07 seconds under world record pace at the 250-meter mark. Her last 50 meters were the second-slowest of the eight-woman final. Ledecky had the fastest last 50.

At the Paris Olympics, McIntosh took silver and Ledecky earned bronze in the 400m free behind Australian Ariarne Titmus in a showdown among the three fastest women in history in the event. Titmus, the world record holder at 3:55.38, has said she is sitting out this season, increasing the likelihood of a Ledecky-McIntosh duel for the world title in Singapore in three months.

In Fort Lauderdale, Ledecky is contesting her first top-level meet since the Paris Olympics. In her first race Wednesday, she swam the second-fastest 1500m freestyle in history, giving her the top 22 times ever in the event.

The Fort Lauderdale meet continues Friday with finals at 6 p.m. ET, live on Peacock.

Ledecky is entered in the 200m free and the 400m individual medley on Friday, though the 400m IM is not a primary event for her. McIntosh is entered in the 200m backstroke, which she has never contested at a major international meet in a 50-meter pool.

Fort Lauderdale marks the last Pro Series meet before the U.S. Championships from June 3-7 in Indianapolis, where the team will be determined for worlds in July and August in Singapore.

In other events Thursday, Gretchen Walsh won the 100m free in a personal best 52.90, holding off Olympic 100m free silver medalist Torri Huske by five hundredths.

Walsh, the world record holder in the 100m butterfly, is now the fifth-fastest American woman in history in the 100m free.

In the 100m breaststroke, Emma Weber edged Lilly King by four hundredths -- 1:06.63 to 1:06.67 -- in a duel between the two Paris Olympians in the event.

In the 50m backstroke, Katharine Berkoff won a final that included the 2024 Olympic 100m back second-, third- and fourth-place finishers. Berkoff, the Olympic bronze medalist, won in 27.38 over Olympic silver medalist Regan Smith (27.43) and Olympic fourth-place finisher Kylie Masse of Canada (27.53). The 50m back debuts at the Olympics in 2028.