Stanford's Katie Ledecky earns 20th world medal, tying Cal's Natalie Coughlin for most all-time
Stanford women's swimming alumna Katie Ledecky earned her 20th world medal on Monday, tying California alumna Natalie Coughlin for the most all-time.
Ledecky earned gold in the women's 1,500-meter freestyle at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest. Her time of 15:30.15 was almost 15 seconds faster than second-place Katie Grimes.
KATIE SQUARED!@katieledecky wins her 17th World Championships gold in the women's 1500m freestyle as 16-year-old Katie Grimes wins silver.@USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022
📺 @peacockTV and Olympic Channel: Home of @TeamUSA
💻 https://t.co/OTRz2BEuHE pic.twitter.com/UxrAeI1uRE
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) June 20, 2022
Two days earlier, Ledecky broke the World Championships record in the women's 400-meter freestyle, winning gold with a time of 3:58.15.
NEW RECORD! @katieledecky just broke the World Championships record in the women’s 400 freestyle, taking gold in a 3:58.15!! #FINABudapest2022 pic.twitter.com/Z7BThtYjOf
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) June 18, 2022
Ledecky's 17 gold medals at World Championships are the most all-time.
A 10-time Olympic medalist, Ledecky swam at Stanford for two seasons (2017, 2018), leading the Cardinal to the Pac-12 title and national championship both years.
A 2021 graduate, Ledecky was an eight-time individual NCAA championship and nine-time All-American.
Coughlin swam at Cal from 2001 to 2003, winning NCAA Swimmer of the Year all three seasons, and was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2019.