Australian hands Katie Ledecky her first-ever international 800m loss

Field Level Media|published: Sun 16th August, 11:37 2026

Jun 6, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, UNITED STATES; Katie Ledecky swims in the women’s 400 meter freestyle at the Toyota National Championships swimming meet at Indiana University Natatorium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Lani Pallister of Australia touched the wall first in the 800-meter freestyle, giving American great Katie Ledecky her first-ever loss at the distance in an international meet late Saturday night at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.

Ledecky's dominance dated back to the 2012 London Olympics, where she won the 800 as a 15-year-old. In that span, she has won four Olympic gold medals, seven world championships and two Pan Pacific titles.

Pallister, 24, finished the 800-meter on Saturday in 8 minutes, 6.10 seconds, wiping out the Pan Pacific record Ledecky set in 2018. Ledecky still holds the world record in the event -- 8:04.12 seconds in 2025.

The 29-year-old Ledecky finished second with her season's best time of 8:07.26.

"That was definitely my best swim of the week, so I'm actually pretty happy with it," Ledecky said. "If I was going to get second tonight, I wanted to make it a good one. Just wanted to make it hard for Lani."

It was the second time in the meet that Pallister out-touched Ledecky. Pallister defeated Ledecky in the 400-meter event on Friday and finished second to her in the 1,500 earlier in the week.

Ledecky didn't seem to be unhappy about Pallister adding her name to the winner's list in the 800.

"I wasn't really thinking too much about my history in the event or anything leading into this," she said. "I just wanted to have a good last event here. I'm really proud of the history I have in this event. That doesn't go anywhere just from getting second."

Ledecky will leave Irvine with gold in the 1,500 free and silvers in the 400 and 800 free, as well as the 4×200 free relay.

She already is the most decorated American female swimmer at the Olympics, with nine gold medals, four silver and one bronze. She is in training for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which she intends to compete in at age 31.

Ledecky also holds 30 medals, including 23 gold, at the worlds and 14 total at the Pan Pacific meets.

--Field Level Media

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