Katie Ledecky finished a whopping 14 seconds ahead of the next-fastest swimmer in her latest World Championship win

• Katie Ledecky finished her 1500-meter freestyle race 14 seconds ahead of her competition on Monday.
• After the win, the American star had to wait in the pool without any of her opponents in sight.

Katie Ledecky is used to finishing ahead of the competition.

But on Monday, her victory was even larger than usual.

The American superstar finished a whopping 14 seconds ahead of the competition in her 1500-meter freestyle event at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. After touching the wall in 15:30.15 — more than seven seconds faster than her gold-medal swim in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics — Ledecky looked for her time, celebrated by pumping a fist into the water, then waited patiently as the rest of the swimmers in the race completed their final laps.

A camera shot of the 25-year-old waiting in the seemingly empty pool showcased the staggering dominance of her latest win.

The victory gave Ledecky the 20th World Championship medal — and 17th gold — of her illustrious swimming career. No woman in the history of the sport has earned more hardware, but Ledecky had no idea she'd hit that benchmark until a reporter asked if she knew how many medals she had to her name.

"No — I don't count," she said with a chuckle in an NBC Sports interview immediately following the race. "What is it, 17? No, that's golds. I don't know then."

Then, once the interviewer broke the news that her 20 medals are tied with American great Natalie Coughlin for the record, Ledecky admitted that it's "pretty wild" to be in the running for longevity achievements.

"I feel like just yesterday I was in Barcelona at my first worlds," Ledecky said. "It's awesome just representing Team USA year after year and it's an honor and a privilege and it's why I work hard."

In addition to her masterclass in the 1500-meter free, Ledecky managed to reclaim the world title in the 400-meter freestyle. That feat was a bit easier without her biggest competition in the field. Ariarne Titmus — the Australian who edged out Ledecky in the event during the Tokyo Olympics and bested her world record just last month — didn't travel to Budapest for the annual festivities because she prefers "to perform on the biggest stage, which for me is the Olympic Games," she told The New York Times.

Ledecky has two more events to go while in Hungary. She'll swim in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Wednesday and, assuming she advances from her heat on Friday, the 800-meter free the following day.

Check out the highlights and post-race interview from Ledecky's commanding 1500-meter freestyle win below: