American Gold Sports Alliance

Archives for May 2025

Ledecky Ties Debbie Meyer & Donna De Varona For Most Individual LC World Records By U.S. Woman

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by Daniel Takata | SwimSwam

Last Saturday, Katie Ledecky stunned the world by breaking the women’s 800-meter freestyle world record in long course meters with a time of 8:04.12 at the Fort Lauderdale stop of the 2025 Pro Swim Series.

The feat was remarkable on many levels. Her previous world record of 8:04.79 from 2016 was already impressive, and she managed to surpass it nearly nine years later.

Her most recent world records had been set in 2022 during the World Cup in short course meters, having set new all-time marks in the 800 and 1500 free. However, in long course meters, her last world record was set in 2018, done in the 1500 free at a Pro Swim Series meet.

She now holds 15 world records in long course meters, all in individual events. This ties her with Donna de Varona and Debbie Meyer as the American women with the most individual world records in 50-meter pools. She also equals Danish Ragnhild Hveger and Australian Dawn Fraser, trailing only East German Kornelia Ender, who set 22 individual world records in her career.https://www.instagram.com/p/DJS1aLSA304/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fswimswam.com&rp=%2Fledecky-ties-debbie-meyer-donna-de-varona-for-most-individual-lc-world-records-by-u-s-woman%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1238.3000000044703%2C%22ls%22%3A705.3000000044703%2C%22le%22%3A1106.4000000059605%7D

Ledecky, already considered by many as the greatest female swimmer in history, continues to set impressive marks in an aspect that has long made her a legend: longevity.

In the list above, Ledecky’s longevity stands out, as she has broken world records over a span of 12 years. In that list, the closest is Fraser, who broke records in the 100 and 200 freestyle over eight years, between 1956 and 1964.

In fact, the swimmer who has broken world records over the longest time span in history is Sarah Sjostrom, with a 14-year interval between 2009 and 2023. However, those records were in different events. In this regard, within the same event, no one surpasses Ledecky, with just under 12 years between her first and latest world record in the 800 freestyle.

Another interesting fact: Ledecky has set world records in both the 800 and 1500 freestyle six times each. She thus becomes only the third swimmer in history to have broken world records six or more times in two different events. Besides her, only de Varona (eight times in the 200 IM and six times in the 400 IM) and Ender (nine times in the 100 freestyle and six times in the 100 butterfly) have achieved this.

These are just a few more accomplishments to add to the resume of Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history.

McLaughlin-Levrone Runs Record 400-Meter Hurdles, Extends Grand Slam Track Streak

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Four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone maintained her 400-meter crown this weekend, completing her second straight 400-meter events sweep at the Grand Slam Track series’ Miami meet on Sunday.

One month after completing the sweep at the first Grand Slam meet in Kingston, Jamaica, the 25-year-old US track star won Saturday’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.07 seconds before also taking Sunday’s 400-meter flat event in 49.69 seconds — a race that earned McLaughlin-Levrone a $100,000 winner’s check.

McLaughlin-Levrone has a veritable stranglehold on the 400-meter hurdles, dominating that race since her last loss at the 2019 World Championships.

In that span, she blasted through six world records across 12 straight victories — lowering the women’s 400-meter hurdles world standard from 52.16 seconds to a blistering 50.37-second pace.

With two more Grand Slam meets in Philadelphia and LA in the coming weeks, McLaughlin-Levrone is considering a literal change of pace, temporarily switching to run the 100-meter events — a distance she hasn’t competed in since 2018.

Should she take on the shorter sprints, McLaughlin-Levrone could find herself racing against the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter hurdles, Masai Russell — who notably posted the second-fastest time in the event’s history, not to mention a new US record, by winning in 12.17 seconds on Friday.

How to watch the final two Grand Slam Track meets

McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell, and other track stars will next compete in the third Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia from May 30th through June 1st, before closing out the series in LA between June 27th and June 29th.

All 2025 Grand Slam Track meets stream live on Peacock.

USA Rugby Sets Women’s Attendance Record in Kansas City

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The USA Rugby women’s 15s shattered the sport’s US attendance record on Friday, welcoming 10,518 fans to Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium for the Eagles’ matchup against Canada.

Though the world No. 9 ranked US fell short in their come-from-behind push, falling 26-14 to No. 2 Canada in the opening game of the 2025 Pacific Four Series, Friday’s crowd gave the players a massive off-field victory.

“To see the crowd be over 10,500 like that was absolutely fantastic in this women’s purposely built stadium, and to debut rugby here in that stadium as well,” said USA captain Kate Zackary after the game.

Even Canada’s athletes lauded the significance of the record-setting crowd, despite the overwhelmingly US cheers from the home fans.

“Being here in North America and having 10,000 people coming to watch women’s sports was so amazing,” remarked Canada’s Sarah-Maude Lachance.

USA rugby star Ilona Maher carries the ball during a game against Canada.
Stars like Ilona Maher are helping grow rugby in the US. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Rugby’s rise spurs exponential growth

After the Eagles secured Olympic bronze in rugby sevens last summer, the sport gained significant momentum.

The national attention captured by 2024 Olympians like superstar Ilona Maher earned USA Rugby a multimillion-dollar investment, helped fuel a new domestic league, and minted fresh fans en route to Friday’s attendance record.

In the long-term, that growth could turn the US-hosted 2033 Rugby World Cup into a marquee national event.

For the rugby faithful, however, the biggest win is seeing those new to the sport become lifelong fans.

“Everyone I talked to after [Friday’s] game who didn’t know what rugby was, [I hope] has fallen in love with it,” said Zachary.

How to attend the next USA Rugby game

The Eagles will take aim at breaking Friday’s attendance record in Washington, DC, on July 19th, when they’ll face No. 16 Fiji in a send-off game before August’s 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.

Tickets to the Audi Field doubleheader, which also includes the US men’s side against England, are available online now.

St. John’s Softball Commit Defies Odds as Legally Blind Pitcher

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Maren Angus-Coombs  | Sports Illustrated

A legally blind softball standout has committed to St. John’s, refusing to let her eye disease stand in the way of her Division I dreams and inspiring others with her resilience.

There is nothing ordinary about Jenica Matos.

Standing at about 5-foot-6, the junior pitcher for Cheshire High School in Connecticut carries herself like a true ace.

Except, she doesn’t see where the ball is going after she releases it.

Matos is visually impaired. She has a rare genetic disorder called Stargardt disease, which causes central vision loss.

“I would have never known,” Cheshire coach Kristine Drust said. “I don’t think anybody would ever know. She pitches with dominance and confidence, just complete control out there. You would never know she’s dealing with adversity every pitch. She’s an absolute gamer.

“Some people might think it’s something that holds her back; I actually think it might propel her forward.”

Matos received her diagnosis at 10 years old, and her vision worsened over time, but over the past couple of years, “it’s kind of stayed the same.”

As she has gotten older, minor adjustments must be made on the field for her to be at her best. She needs her catcher to wear a chest protector and glove in contrasting colors. For high school ball, her coach wears black clothing and neon gloves to give signals. When she plays club ball for the Empire State Huskies, she uses PitchComm.

Matos doesn’t know if she will completely lose her vision or not but the one thing about her future she can control is where she plays collegiately.

On Nov. 3, 2024, Matos announced her commitment to play at St. John’s. While she hadn’t talked about her vision impairment publicly, the coaches knew about it and were willing to give her whatever support she needed.

For now, Matos will continue keep opponents off-balance. On Monday, she pitched an 11-inning complete-game, striking out 25 and allowing only two hits.

Matos doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her because she has this disease. She wants to be respected as one of the best pitchers in the state, and maybe the country. She is determined to “get the Gatorade Player of the Year award.”

“Even though I have an eye disease, it doesn’t really shape who I am as a player and a person,” Matos said. “It’s my talent and how hard I work. I don’t get anything given to me because I have an eye disease. I actually work for it, and I love doing what I do, even if it’s hard most of the time.” 

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