IRVINE, California — Lani Pallister of Australia defeated Katie Ledecky to win the 400-meter freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships on Friday (Saturday in Manila) in a final that lacked some luster without world record holder Summer McIntosh.
Pallister was under world-record pace through 150 meters before touching in 3 minutes, 58.42 seconds. Ledecky had over a second to make up on the final lap and took silver in 4:00.15.
“I could see Katie catching me on the last 150 and that’s a very nerve-wracking feeling,” Pallister said.
Erika Fairweather of New Zealand was third.
“It was OK, not super happy with it,” Ledecky said. “I never like being over 4 minutes in an international final, but I put together the best race I could. I thought I had a good back half, just wasn’t out quick enough.”
Pallister has firmly established herself as one of Ledecky’s top rivals two years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The 24-year-old Aussie who cites the 29-year-old American as her inspiration has been piling up international medals in freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters.
Pallister won the 200 free over McIntosh and Fairweather on Wednesday. Ledecky didn’t compete in the event this week. Ledecky topped Pallister in the 1,500 free that same night.
“I’ve never taken my competition for granted, even when I was winning by big margins,” Ledecky said. “I just have a lot of great competition from all over the world right now.”
McIntosh surprisingly failed to advance to the evening final. The 19-year-old Canadian’s time of 4:08.56 was ninth-fastest in the preliminaries and more than 14 seconds slower than her world-record time.
McIntosh led all the way in winning the ‘B’ final in 4:00.58, which would have earned her the bronze in the final.
