After cruising along, Katie Ledecky puts smoke on the water

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OMAHA, Neb. - Katie Ledecky figured this would be a perfect time to multitask at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming.

Ledecky was cruising along so far ahead of the field two-thirds of the way through her 800-meter freestyle heat Friday morning that she spontaneously decided to give herself something else to do.

“Around the 550 mark, I was like, `We’ll practice my 100 free finish for tonight,’” Ledecky said, with a big grin.

And that’s what it looked like, especially in the final 25 meters, when she seriously engaged her legs for the first time in the 800. She blasted the last lap in a brisk 28.71 seconds.

And, by the way, she covered the entire 800 in 8 minutes, 10.91 seconds, merely the third-fastest time ever – behind the 8:06.68 she swam in January and an 8:07.39 from last year’s world championships.

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