SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers if they believe Katie Ledecky will take down a SCM world record on the FINA World Cup:
Question: Will Katie Ledecky break a SCM world record at the FINA World Cup?
RESULTS
- Yes – 55.1%
- No – 44.9%
Katie Ledecky is racing short course meters for the first time since 2019 (and the second time ever) this weekend at the second stop of the FINA World Cup circuit in Toronto, and she’ll do it again next week at the third and final leg in Indianapolis.
When Ledecky raced her lone International Swimming League (ISL) match in October 2019, she finished just 14 one-hundredths shy of the world record in the women’s 400 freestyle, clocking 3:54.06 to narrowly miss Ariarne Titmus‘ mark of 3:53.92.
Now, to be fair, the latest SwimSwam poll was sent out and closed when the 400 free record still stood at 3:53.92. However, on Thursday, China’s Li Bingjie obliterated that mark in 3:51.30.
So it stands to reason that the poll results would look different if Li’s record had come a week earlier. Many who voted in favor of a Ledecky record likely penciled in the 400 free as the race in which she would do it, since she was so close in 2019, and the fact that it presents a potentially competitive matchup with Summer McIntosh and Siobhan Haughey.
The 1500 mark is certainly within reach as well, but given that it’s early in the season, fatigue could play a factor. That record stands at 15:18.01, less than two and a half seconds faster than Ledecky’s long course record (15:20.48).
Ledecky will also get to take aim at the 800 free world record next week in Indy. That record sits at 7:59.34, just over five seconds clear of Ledecky’s LCM mark of 8:04.79.
Just over 55 percent of readers believe that a Ledecky world record will fall sometime over the next week or so.
She’ll take her first shot on Friday night, where she’ll race the 400 free final in Toronto after qualifying first out of the prelims in 3:56.23.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Who was Michael Phelps’ greatest rival?
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.