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Everything you need to watch Katie Ledecky this weekend at the World Swimming Championships, where a clash with Summer McIntosh looms.

Swimming phenomenon Katie Ledecky heads to Singapore for the 2025 World Swimming Championships, looking to add more hardware to her collection of 26 World Championship medals.

Since winning her first Olympic gold medal at 15 years old at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Ledecky has dominated the sport, becoming the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history along the way.

At 28 years old, Ledecky has had one of the best seasons of her career, breaking her own world record in the 800m freestyle and swimming her fastest time since 2018 in the 1500m freestyle in May. As she enters her seventh World Swimming Championships, she will attempt to defend her world titles in the 800m and 1500m freestyles and reclaim the title in the 400m freestyle.

Despite the absence of two-time 400m freestyle world champion Ariarne Titmus at this year’s meet, a new heated rivalry has emerged in the freestyle field between the veteran Ledecky and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh.

When Will Katie Ledecky compete at the 2025 World Swimming Championships?

Swimming will begin on Saturday, July 26, and conclude on Sunday, August 3. Ledecky qualified for three individual events and is expected to participate in one relay. Heats are at 10 PM ET each day and finals will take place at 7 AM ET. She will compete on the following days:

Women’s 400m freestyle heats: Saturday, July 26
Women’s 400m freestyle finals/Women’s 1500m freestyle heats: Sunday, July 27
Women’s 1500m freestyle finals: Tuesday, July 29
Women’s 4x200 freestyle relay finals/Women’s 800m freestyle heats: Thursday, July 31
Women’s 800m freestyle finals: Saturday, August 2

Women’s 800m freestyle preview

Ledecky and McIntosh face off in the 800m freestyle, making for one of the weekend's most anticipated events.

Since Ledecky captured gold in the 800m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympic Games, she has been unstoppable in this event. She set the world record at the 2016 Rio Olympics and spent nine years chasing it without any serious challenges from her competitors. In May, Ledecky unexpectedly broke her record with a time of 8:04.12 at a TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Fort Lauderdale, proving that her best swimming days aren’t over yet.

Behind Ledecky looms Summer McIntosh, the 18-year-old coming off the best meet of her career at June'sCanadian Swimming Trials, where she broke three world records and clocked the third-fastest time in history in the 800m freestyle (which is less than a second off Ledecky’s world record). McIntosh hasn’t raced the 800m freestyle on the world stage since the Tokyo Olympics four years ago, challenging herself to break Ledecky’s six-time world title streak in this event.

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Women’s 400m freestyle preview

The two will also go head-to-head in the 400m freestyle, but this time, McIntosh will be in the driver’s seat. After losing to Ledecky at theTYR Pro Swim Series inMay –in what was Ledecky’s fastest swim in nine years – McIntosh swam the fastest time of her career and reclaimed the world record from Titmus the following month.

McIntosh is seeded over two seconds faster than Ledecky, but either one of these swimmers could walk away with the gold medal.

Women’s 1500m freestyle preview

The 1500m freestyle is a different story for Ledecky. She owns the 23 fastest times in the history of this event and is seeded nearly 15 seconds ahead of the next swimmer in the field, Australia's Lani Pallister. She will likely be in a race of her own, chasing the clock to get as close to her world record as possible.

Ledecky swam the second fastest time in history in Fort Lauderdale in May,suggesting a world record is within reach. She will also likely participate in the 4x200 freestyle relay final for Team USA.

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How many times has Katie Ledecky competed at the World Championships?

The 2025 World Swimming Championships mark Ledecky’s seventh World Championship appearance (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025).

It wasn’t until after her Olympic debut at the London Games that Ledecky competed in her first World Championship meet. In 2013, Ledecky took home gold medals in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle, as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay.

How many medals does Katie Ledecky have?

Ledecky is the most decorated woman in World Championships history, boasting 21 gold medals and five silver medals. She has won at least one gold medal in each of her six World Championship appearances. Michael Phelps (33) and Ryan Lochte (27) are the only swimmers with more medals than her.

If Ledecky takes home gold in the 800m freestyle, she will become the first swimmer to win seven consecutive world titles in an individual event. She became the first swimmer to win six consecutive world titles in 2023, but Sarah Sjostrom joined her in this elite category in 2024 after claiming her sixth 50m butterfly world title.