Pallister stuns Ledecky in Pan Pacs 800m

Australian Lani Pallister on Saturday dealt US great Katie Ledecky her first 800m freestyle defeat in a major international meet, beating her one-time idol at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California.

Pallister led wire-to-wire on the way to victory in 8 minuts, 06.10 seconds and Ledecky’s desperate late charge was not enough as she finished second in 8:07.26.

It was a stunning result on the final day of Pan Pacs action that saw American Kate Douglass break the 50m freestyle world record twice on the way to gold and earn 200m breaststroke silver and medley relay gold as well.

Lani Pallister of Australia competes in the women’s 800m freestyle final at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California, on Saturday.

Photo: AP

Ledecky has dominated the 800m since she won Olympic gold in 2012 as a 15-year-old, winning 13 international golds since then. That includes four Olympic gold medals and seven world titles in the event.

Pallister, who claimed her first career win over Ledecky in the 400m free earlier this week before finishing second behind her in the 1,500m, showed that rule can be broken as the 29-year-old American looks to add to her collection of nine Olympic gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The Australian punched the water in delight and got a hug across the lane rope from Ledecky.

“Katie is such a dominant force,” said Pallister, who finished the week with gold in the 200, 400 and 800m free and the 4x200m free relay. “Without her, we wouldn’t have women’s distance swimming in the place we’re at at the moment. To be part of that story at the moment [it’s] pretty much all because we get to chase Katie.”

Meanwhile, Douglass firmly established herself as the one to chase in the 50m free, winning the final in a devastating 23.19 seconds.

That sliced three-tenths of a second off the world record of 23.49 seconds she set hours earlier and saw her finish 55-hundredths of a second ahead of US teammate Gretchen Walsh.

Walsh had set a world record of 23.55 on June 28 in Rome — where she broke the world mark Douglass had set on June 19.