SwimSwam Ledecky Rips 4:26 500 Free, FSU Upsets Florida & Mijatovic Resets 15-16 NAG

Ledecky Shows Good Form In Ocala: Katie Ledecky produced one of the fastest 500 free swims in history during Florida's neutral-site dual meet with FSU, which the Seminoles swept in a massive upset.

Also: Cal swimmers post nation-leading times to close the regular season, Ariarne Titmus opts out of 2025 Worlds and Luka Mijatovic breaks another NAG record.

Ledecky Posts #3 All-Time 500 Free As FSU Upsets Gators

Katie Ledecky showed up and showed out as a few Florida pros got in some racing during a neutral-site dual meet between the Gators and Florida State on Friday in Ocala.

In her second meet of 2025, Ledecky clocked 4:26.08 in the women's 500 freestyle, which marks the third-fastest swim in history (though it's unclear if this swim will be officially recognized by USA Swimming).

The only two swims that are faster were produced by Ledecky during her college career at Stanford, having broken the all-time record at the 2017 Pac-12s in 4:25.15 before lowering it to 4:24.06 at NCAAs three weeks later.

In the dual meet, Florida State edged out the Florida men by a single point, 150-149, to earn the upset victory, while Maddy Huggins led the Seminoles in the women's meet, winning a pair of individual events and contributing to a victorious relay as they beat the Gators 161-138.

The win ended a six-meet winning streak the Florida women had over FSU.

Find a full meet recap here.

Henveaux, Bell & Roghair Post NCAA-Leading Times As Cal Battles Stanford

Cal and Stanford went head-to-head in a pair of separate dual meets on the weekend, as the men raced in Berkeley on Friday before the women squared off in Stanford on Saturday.

A total of three nation-leading times were produced across the two meets, with Cal's Lucas Henveaux, who joined the team for the second semester, kicking things off in the men's meet with a big swim in the 1650 free.

Henveaux rocketed to a time of 14:29.74, overtaking Texas' Rex Maurer (14:30.47) for the #1 spot in the country while knocking more than 14 seconds off his previous PB set at the 2023 NCAAs (14:44.14). The swim also set a new Cal School Record, lowering the seven-year-old mark of 14:30.82 set by Nick Norman in 2018.

Henveaux also won the 500 free in 4:10.82, dipping under his season-best to move into #3 in the NCAA, and his 1000 free split from the mile (8:44.42) was a best time and ranks him 6th in the country in that event.

Jack Alexy and Destin Lasco also doubled up with wins for the Bears as they rolled to a 175-125 win.

• Full men's recap.

In the women's meet, Lucy Bell set a new Stanford Record in the 200 breast to rank #1 in the country, clocking 2:05.10 to break Katie Olsen's Cardinal Record of 2:05.88 from 2014 while overtaking Duke's Kaelyn Gridley (2:05.71) for the top spot in the nation.

Bell set her previous best time of 2:05.92 a few weeks ago against USC. She also won the 100 breast in a lifetime best (58.30) to rank 9th in the NCAA and #2 all-time in Stanford history.

Stanford's Aurora Roghair added a nation-leading time in the 1000 free (9:24.78), and completed the distance sweep by winning the 500 free (4:36.97), while Torri Huske shined with three individual wins, including setting a personal best in the 50 free (21.17).

The Cardinal women walked away with a 180-119 win over the Bears.

• Full women's recap.

Ariarne Titmus Opts Out of 2025 World Championships

Four-time Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus has announced her decision not to compete at the 2025 World Championships later this year in Singapore, marking the second straight time she's opted not to compete at the event in the year after the Olympics.

Titmus, who successfully defended her Olympic gold medal in the women's 400 freestyle at the Paris Olympics, also sat out of the 2022 World Championships coming off the Tokyo Games in 2021.

The 24-year-old is in the midst of an extended break out of the water after the Paris Olympics, and plans to get back into training around July, right around the time when the 2025 Worlds get underway.

“I’ve spoken to [coach] Dean [Boxall] about that, she told the Sydney Morning Herald. "He said to get moving in July, I may have to start doing a little bit in the water at the end of May. That’s definitely the plan.

“I’m so grateful that I’ve got Dean and Rohan Taylor, the head coach of Australia, backing me and putting what I need first. I don’t think it was like that 20 years ago.

“I’ve always said that I was going to take a 12-month break off the back of Paris. That’s something that I discussed with Dean and Rohan before the Paris Olympics.

“I just knew that after Paris, I needed some time away. I’ve been on the national team since I was 16, and I just needed a bit of a break mentally from the intensity of the sport.”

After winning four medals including a pair of golds in the women's 200 and 400 free in Tokyo, Titmus won gold in the 400 free and the women's 4x200 free relay in Paris, adding silvers in the 200 and 800 free.

Titmus also opted out of the 2024 World Championships (like many swimmers), but was the 2023 world champion in the 400 free and 4x200 free relay.

Despite the fact she won't race at the 2025 Worlds, Titmus reaffirmed her commitment to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“When you’re at the tail-end of your career, the Olympics just become so much more important," she said. "I’ll be going back to training to be able to gear up for LA. It’s the Olympic Games that now my eyes are on.”

Luka Mijatovic Lowers 15-16 NAG Record In 1000 Free

Distance phenom Luka Mijatovic added another national age group record to his resume on Saturday at the Sierra Nevada Super League Championships in Sacramento, doing so in the 1000 freestyle.

Mijatovic, 15, clocked 8:42.45 in the event, lowering the decade-old 15-16 NAG record of 8:45.11 set by Matthew Hirschberger in 2015. Prior to Hirschberger, the record stood at 8:49.97 from Jeff Kostoff back in 1982.

Mijatovic's previous best time stood at 8:45.28, set in November.

In addition to breaking the 15-16 NAG record, Mijatovic also went under the existing 17-18 NAG record (8:43.66 from Luke Hobson) and moves into #9 all-time in the event.

Mijatovic now holds 12 individual National Age Group Records across all age groups plus a relay record. That list includes the 15-16 500 free record, set late in 2024 in 4:12.34.

Read more here.

QUICK HITS

• Former West Fargo High School swim coach Ronald Hehn was taken into custody last week on a charge of gross sexual imposition with a victim under 15 years of age. Details about what led to the arrest were revealed on Monday.
• Ashland High School was forced to forfeit all of the meets it had competed in this season (up until this point) after three eighth-graders representing the team were declared to be ineligible.
• Sonoma State University, a Division II school located in the northern California Bay Area, announced that it is eliminating its entire athletics department at the end of the spring season due to a looming budget deficit.
• USA Swimming has released an updated Coach Selection Framework that will guide its coaching staff selection process for the 2025 World Championships, a response to calls for more transparency from the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) last year.
• Australian Olympic gold medalist Madi Wilson has announced her retirement from competitive swimming.
• Luca Urlando continued his run of impressive performances, setting a new UGA Pool Record in the men's 200 back (1:38.18) as the Bulldogs swept Emory.
• The Texas men finished the regular season undefeated as the Longhorns swept Texas A&M.
• The Crow Canyon Sharks have merged with the Pleasanton Seahawks, forming a powerhouse club in the Pacific Swimming LSC.
• Russian world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov has announced his intentions of racing at both the 2025 World Championships and 2028 Olympics, having sat out of the 2024 SC Worlds in December.
• Emily Logan, who coached the girls swimming and diving team at Greenfield-Central High School in Indiana for over a decade, died on Jan. 27 at the age of 51.
• The Harvard women and Princeton men swept the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton double dual meet over two days in New Haven.

Katie Ledecky Swims a 4:26.08 in the 500 Free at the Florida-Florida State Dual Meet

Luka Mijatovic Breaks 15-16 National Age Group Record in 1000 Free; Ranks #9 All-Time/All Ages

Ariarne Titmus Opts Out Of 2025 Worlds But Has Eyes On LA 2028

Lucas Henveaux Sets Nation Leading Mile Time at Last Regular Season Meet

Lucy Bell and Aurora Roghair Set Nation Leading Times at Last Dual Meet of the Season

Ronald Hehn, Coach From 2018 “Weight Belt” Incident, Arrested on Allegations of Sexual Contact with a Minor