Katie Ledecky is four for four in qualifying for finals at the Olympic Trials.
The world’s most dominant swimmer won her 800m freestyle preliminary heat by 18.05 seconds in 8:10.91 on Friday morning, the third fastest of all time. The next fastest woman across all of the top heats swam 8:21.64. Ledecky now owns the 10 fastest 800m free times ever.
Ledecky, who won the 2012 Olympic 800m free at age 15, has already prevailed in the 200m and 400m frees in Omaha this week.
She is all but guaranteed to make the Olympic team in the 800m free in Saturday night’s final, leaving tonight’s 100m free final (8 ET, NBC and NBC Sports app) her only question mark. Should she decide to swim it.
Ledecky qualified seventh into the 100m free final, but only .57 separates her from top seed Abbey Weitzeil.
If Ledecky can finish top two in the 100m free final Friday night, she will be in line to become the second American to swim four freestyles at an Olympics. The first was Shirley Babashoff in 1976.
SWIM TRIALS: Video | Results | Broadcast Schedule
Also Friday, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte qualified sixth and ninth, respectively, into the 100m butterfly semifinals. They’re slated to also swim the 200m individual medley final Friday night. Lochte later scratched out of the 100m butterfly semifinals, according to Swimming World.
Earlier Friday, University of Florida rising junior Caeleb Dressel led 16 qualifiers into Friday night’s men’s 50m freestyle semifinals.
Dressel, who on Thursday qualified to be the youngest U.S. man to swim the Olympic 100m free in 40 years, was followed in the 50m free prelims by 2000 co-Olympic champion Anthony Ervin, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Cullen Jones and 2015 World silver medalist Nathan Adrian.
Jones is the only one of that decorated quartet who has not made the Rio Olympic team yet. The 50m free is his last chance.
MORE: The secret Beilke behind Ledecky’s goals
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