Katie Ledecky reacts to Jillian Cox finishing second and qualifying for Worlds team

It's not very often a young athlete gets appreciation from one of the best ever, but Jillian Cox has received appreciation from one of the greatest swimmers of all time, Katie Ledecky.

The 2023 U.S. National Championships began on Tuesday and the stakes are being raised with each and every event. All the swimmers are contributing their best to secure victories as well as earn qualification to the Worlds Team.

On day one of the U.S. National Championships, the 800m freestyle event was held and the whole event was dominated by Katie Ledecky. She clocked a championship record time of 8:07.07. But another swimmer who grabbed the spotlight was 17-year-old Jillian Cox.

The young swimmer finished second with a time of 8:20.28. Appreciating her remarkable performances, Katie Ledecky shared a photo posted by USA Swimming to her Instagram stories. In the photo shared on her stories, we can see Ledecky and Jillian Cox. She further wrote,

"Nice one @jilliantcox, let's go"

Along with the caption, Katie posted an emoji of the flag of the United States as well. This could be to indicate Jillian's qualification for the world's team as the 17-year-old indeed qualified for the team.

---

More insights regarding the performance of Jillian Cox who finished second behind Katie Ledecky

Jillian Cox clocked a time of 8:20.28 in the 800m freestyle of the 2023 U.S. National Championships. Though her time of 8:20.28 is a bit distant from Katie Ledecky's first-place time of 8:07.07.

The 17-year-old swam most of the race in second place. But most importantly, she was able to fend off a late charge from Claire Weinstein. Cox was able to maintain her composure and secure the second-place finish and earn her qualification to the world's team.

She also dropped off 10 seconds from her personal best in the 800m freestyle. According to Swimswam, the previous best time of Cox in the event was 8:30.38 when she swam at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs. With her best-ever swim in the event, Jillian has become the ninth swimmer to join the world's senior team for the first time as per the aforementioned source.

---

Top 10 swimmers of the women's 800m freestyle at the 2023 U.S. National Championships

The top 10 swimmers of the 800m freestyle event at the 2023 U.S. National Championships are listed below:

1. Katie Ledecky - 8:07.07 (Championship Record)
2. Jillian Cox - 8:20.28
3. Claire Weinstein - 8:21.00
4. Leah Smith - 8:21.88
5. Katie Grimes - 8:23.78
6. Kensey McMahon - 8:25.97
7. Rachel Stege - 8:32.71
8. Mariah Denigan - 8:34.93
9. Abby McCulloh - 8:36.06
10. Chase Travis - 8:36.72

Ledecky, Cox, and Weinstein finishing in the top three is a huge achievement considering the number of tough opponents in this race. With two days of the 2023 U.S. National Championships already completed, we can definitely expect several more incredible performances.