Katie Grimes records fastest 800-meter freestyle time since Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Modified Jun 01, 2023 21:31 IST

Katie Grimes is another one of the young talented swimmers representing Team USA. In a recent swim meet, she recorded her fastest time in the 800-meter freestyle event. Grimes has been constantly putting on improved performances in swimming competitions.

At last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Katie Grimes won two silver medals in the 1500m freestyle and 400m medley events. Born in Las Vegas, she competes for the club, Sandpipers of Nevada.

The 2023 Speedo Grand Challenge was held at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California from May 26 to 28. Competing in the 800m freestyle, Katie clocked her fastest ever time in the event since the Tokyo Olympics according to Swimswam. The 17-year-old swimmer finished first with a time of 8:21.87.

This was nearly 15 seconds faster than her fellow Sandpipers teammate Claire Weinstein. She previously clocked 8:17.05 in the heats of the 800m freestyle event at the Tokyo Olympics. Katie Grimes also registered a time of 8:19.38 in the finals of the 800m. These two are also her only sub -8:20 swims of her career as per Swimswam.

Grimes was a few tenths quicker than the time she clocked at the International Team Trials last April according to the aforementioned source. She clocked a time of 8:22.72 at the International Team Trials. The American swimmer didn’t swim the 800m freestyle at the 2022 World Championships.

The time of 8:21.87 was Katie’s fastest time of the year in 800m freestyle as she already registered times of 8:27.73 in January and 8:26.22 in April. Her performance in the 800m freestyle at the 2023 Speedo Grand Challenge made her the eighth-fastest woman in the event this season.

This season’s fastest times in the 800m freestyle as revealed on Swimswam are attached below:

1. Katie Ledecky: 8:13.56
2. Erika Fairweather: 8:18.00
3. Ariarne Titmus: 8:19.33
4. Isabelle Gose: 8:19.65
5. Summer McIntosh: 8:20.19
6. Li Bingjie: 8:20.34
7. Simona Quadarella: 8:21.14
8. Katie Grimes: 8:21.87
9. Yang Peiqi: 8:23.86
10. Lani Pallister: 8:24.72

Katie Grimes excels at the 2023 Speedo Grand Challenge

Apart from clocking her fastest time in the 800m freestyle, Katie also excelled in other events of the 2023 Speedo Grand Challenge. She finished first in the 400m freestyle with a time of 4:08.57.

Katie Grimes clocked a time of 4:38.01 in the 400m IM and finished first. The third event in which she emerged victorious was the 200m butterfly. She clocked a…