Katie Ledecky beats Michael Phelps’ record for most individual swimming world titles

Katie Ledecky has officially bypassed Michael Phelps for the most individual swimming world titles.

Ledecky won her 16th individual swimming world title after taking gold during the women’s 800m freestyle July 29 at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

NBC Sports reported that in addition to breaking Phelps’ record, her 800m freestyle win also made her the first swimmer in history to win any event six times at worlds.

The 26-year-old finished the race in 8 minutes, 8.87 seconds. The 800m freestyle is considered her trademark race in which she has been undefeated since 2012. She earned her first Olympic medal for the race during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London when she was 15 years old.

Ledecky called the moment “special” during an interview aired on Peacock, adding, “I’m happy with that swim. I wanted to be a little bit better [time-wise], but I’ll take it. I’m really pleased with how the week went.”

During the World Championships, Ledecky also took home another gold medal for the 1500m freestyle and two silver medals in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay.

Phelps addressed Ledecky's milestone moment in a sweet post on his Instagram story July 29.

The 28-time Olympic medalist gave a special shoutout to his fellow Olympian, re-sharing an Instagram post from Team USA celebrating her accomplishment.

Phelps added his own message to the post as well, writing, “Congrats @katieledecky!!” alongside an animated American flag sticker.

After finishing her World Championship events, Ledecky shared a post on Instagram celebrating the week and her 800m freestyle six-peat alongside a carousel of photos from the competition.

“800 free 6-peat complete. Always fun to end the meet with my favorite event,” she wrote in the caption. “Thankful for everyone’s support along the way this year and thank you Japan for putting on a fabulous World Championships. Congrats to all my teammates and competitors on a lot of fast swimming."

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Ledecky took home two gold medals in the 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle in addition to two silver medals in the 400m freestyle and freestyle relay.

After winning gold, she also squashed any rumors that she would be retiring after that year's Olympic games during an interview, making her plans for the 2024 Paris Olympics clear.

“That was not my last swim,” she said. “I’m at least going to ‘24, at least to ‘28, we’ll see."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com