Pakistan, Jan. 16 -- Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky clocked the second-fastest women's 1500m freestyle time in history on Wednesday to launch the US Pro Swim Series event in Austin, Texas, with a dominant victory.

Ledecky was untouchable as she cruised to victory in 15:23.21, more than a minute in front of 16-year-old runner-up Brinkleigh Hansen, who touched in 16:31.31.

Becca Mann was third in 16:35.09. Ledecky didn't threaten her world record of 15:20.48, set in 2018, but she used a strong late surge to improve on the second-best ever time of 15:24.51 that she had set at the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last April.

Since then she has gone on to win her sixth world title in the event at last year's world...