Claire Weinstein touched the wall a fraction of a second before Katie Ledecky, earning the national title in the women’s 200-meter freestyle on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.

Nearly deadlocked in the center lanes, Weinstein, 16, broke 30 seconds in all four 50-meter segments and hit the wall .02 seconds before Ledecky in a time of 1:55.26 to qualify for the World Championships next month.

Ledecky, who led the race at the final turn after 150 meters, also qualified but might opt not to swim the event at the World Championships in Japan to participate in the 1500m freestyle.

Weinstein, in lane 5, clocked a final length of 29.35 seconds to deal Ledecky (lane 4) her first loss to an American in the 200 since 2013.

Ledecky edged Weinstein in the same race at the US team trials in 2021. She won the 800 freestyle by 13 seconds on Tuesday night to qualify for her sixth World Championships.

Bella Sims, Weinstein’s teammate with the Sandpipers of Nevada swim club, finished third to qualify for Worlds in 1:56.08.

Erin Gemmell, daughter of Ledecky’s high school swim coach Bruce Gemmell, was fourth. The top four qualify for the 800 free relay at the World Championships.

An American record fell in the meet as Gretchen Walsh swam the 50-meter butterfly in 25.11 seconds. The old mark of 25.46 seconds was set by Rikako Ikee in 2017 at Indianapolis.

Second-place Torri Huske also bettered the old U.S. record, coming in at 25.33. Claire Curzan (25.74) came in third, and Abbey Weitzeil (25.78) took fourth.

Regan Smith broke her own U.S. Open record in the women’s 200-meter backstroke at 2:03.80. Her previous mark was 2:04.76. Rhyan White (2:05.77), Curzan (2:06.35) and Kennedy Noble (2:06.54) rounded out the top four.

Other Wednesday winners:
–Men’s 200-meter freestyle, Luke Hobson, 1:45.18
–Men’s 200-meter backstroke, Ryan Murphy, 1:55.03
–Men’s 200-meter breaststroke, Matt Fallon, 2:07.71
–Men’s 50-meter butterfly, Michael Andrew, 23.11
–Women’s 200-meter breaststroke, Lilly King, 2:20.95

–Field Level Media