Swimming Fans Witness History Live as Katie Ledecky Battles Lilly King in 400M IM at TYR Pro Series 2024

Katie Ledecky and Lily King unfurled their swimming moves in the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in a much-expected way in the last three days. Both Olympic spearheads know their sweet spot in the sport very well. So when Katie Ledecky appeared in the 1500m free or Lilly King appeared in the 100m stroke, fans waited for an ecstatic outcome. The duo didn’t disappoint their fans, keeping the teenage defends at bay.

However, both these swimmers also had to coincide with each other to try the depth of the swimming zeitgeist. That happened on the day 3 of the TYR Pro Series 2024. With that, some beautiful paeans fall in place for both Katie Ledecky and Lilly King. 

Katie Ledecky and Lilly King’s first-ever face-off 

On day 3, the 400M IM was held in the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville. In the women’s category, the list flared with the presence of Katie Ledecky and Lilly King together. Eventually, the 26-year-old swimmer from Indiana had to bow before the most decorated female swimmer in the event. Katie Ledecky came as the runner-up while Lilly King took the 4th position. But before coming into the event, the reigning Olympic champion raised the temperature with an Instagram share. On the eve of day 3 in Knoxville, Ledecky penned in her Instagram story, “On HAPPY DAY… @_king_lil and I are racing for the first time EVER today!” So even after sabotaging swimming records for years, the spearhead duo was to face each other for the first time in the last 10 years of shared history. 

It was the moment of the 2016 Summer Olympics when the then 19-year-old swimmer rose to fame. In the penultimate 100m stroke event, King ousted her Russian opponent by claiming the Olympic record. The same Olympics saw Katie Ledecky flying high but in other events, not caring for a 100m stroke. But the intimidation started at that point as Lilly King introduced herself, being vocal against the doping rules. The same Katie Ledecky mentioned for years. That initiated a similar kind of love affair between the two. 

The unmissable support for each other 

The duo coincided again on the Olympic occasion, and this time also, raging a custom that the periphery built. In her first event of the Tokyo Olympics, Katie Ledecky couldn’t land the gold medal, rather had to be satisfied with the silver in the 400m free event. That erupted in a kerfuffle where several dogmatic communities criticized the legend for losing the gold medal. Katie Ledecky lambasted the whole situation that time by saying, “Just because I won golds all the time leading into [my silver medal-winning race] doesn’t mean that the silver doesn’t mean something to me.”

Read more: The Story of Olympic Champion Katie Ledecky at TYR Pro Series

A jubilant Lilly King was there to support Ledecky with words like “Excuse my French, but the fact that we don’t celebrate silver and bronze is bulls—.” That won Katie Ledecky. Now, in Knoxville, the duo shared all their emotions that had been brewing for years. 

Watch this story: Olympic Legends Simone Phelps, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky Hangout With Gold Medals Around Their Neck