USA’s Katie Ledecky was battling with illness at the FINA World Championships 2019 in Gwangju, and unfortunately, she was on the losing side this time. First, she withdrew from the 200m free heats in the morning, then she had to make the tough decision to abruptly finish her campaign here.
Without her, the 1500m free crown was up for grabs and Simone Quadarella was quick enough to take it. The Italian added the world title to her European crown, she became the 4th best performer of all time and Italy’s second winner in this event – 10 years after Alessia Filippi. It was somewhat stylish that she brought down her predecessor’s NR set in Rome 2009 (15:40.89 – though Ledecky’s best ten times are still better than this). Germany’s Sarah Kohler was a distant second while China’s Wang Jianjiahe grabbed the bronze.
