Ajna Kesely Breaks Hungarian 400 Free Record In Worlds Final

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
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Swimming in a race that saw one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, Ajna Kesely quietly had a standout swim to place fourth overall in the women’s 400 free final.

Kesely put up a time of 4:01.31, getting well under the Hungarian National Record of 4:02.37 set by Boglarka Kapas in the 2016 Olympic final.

The biggest difference between Kesely and Kapas’ swims came in the first 100 and the last 50:

Kesely’s previous best time was 4:03.57, done at the European Championships last summer where she won the silver medal.

The 17-year-old sat third at every single turn, trailing Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus, but was overtaken by American Leah Smith on the last 50, as Smith grabbed the bronze .02 clear of her in 4:01.29.

Titmus ended up shocking Ledecky, swimming by her on the last 50 to win the gold medal in a new Commonwealth Record of 3:58.76. Ledecky suffered her first loss in major international competition in a race longer than 200 metres, taking silver in 3:59.97.

Kesely is also entered to swim the 800 and 1500 freestyle later on in the competition.