Katie Ledecky of the United States eased to her 20th gold medal overall at the World Aquatics Championships, powering to a fifth women's 1,500 meters freestyle title after Matthew Richards led a British one-two in the men's 200-meter freestyle on Tuesday.
Seven-times Olympic champion Ledecky went into the race as the firm favorite, going over 13 seconds quicker than Italy's Simona Quadarella — the next best — in the heats, and was under her world-record time after a blistering start to the final.
But Ledecky's pace dropped slightly after she took a huge lead and the 26-year-old touched the pad in 15 minutes, 26.27 seconds to finish 17.04 seconds faster than Quadarella, who settled for silver while China's Li Bingjie took bronze.