Swimming: Ledecky sets sights on 1500m

Katie Ledecky swims in the women's 1500m freestyle timed final during the Pan Pacific swimming championships in Tokyo. Photo / AP

They've added a new swimming event to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - the women's 1500m freestyle - and Katie Ledecky plans to be racing it.

This could pose a problem, even for the five-time Olympic champion and 14-time world champion.

She won the 200m, 400m and 800m two years ago in Rio de Janeiro. Now add to that the 1500m. So is Ledecky planning to perhaps drop the 200m, maybe her weakest race, and focus on the longer distances?

She lost the 200m a few days ago in the Pan Pacific Championships, her only blemish on a strong showing this week in the Japanese capital.

"I don't anticipate trying to drop any of them," she said yesterday after winning the 1500m at the Pan Pacs on the final day of the four-day meet.

The meet was held at the Tatsumi swimming centre, which is only a five-minute walk from the new Olympic aquatic centre under construction. It should be completed early in 2020.

Certainly Ledecky won't drop the 1500m. Her time of 15m 38.97s was the 10th fastest in history. She now owns nine of the top 10 times in that event - and the world record.

"It's something that makes training really challenging and exciting for me to compete in the shorter races," she said. "So I have no plans of dropping anything. Plans could change but I think I still have a lot in me."

As a trial for Tokyo, Ledecky is likely to swim all four next year in the world championships in South Korea.

"I think I know how to manage my races and manage my energy,'' Ledecky said.

The United States won 18 gold medals at the meet, with Australia claiming eight and Japan six.

- AP