Ledecky led an American one-two and won her fourth 1,500-meter freestyle title.
Ledecky set a new world record in the women's 1500m freestyle with a time of 15.15 seconds, just under 10 seconds better than her previous record.
After punching the water, Ledecky waited to hug her teammate.
Ledecky said sharing the moment with her was special.
Since Ledecky won it for the first time in 2013), the second- youngest medalist in the 1,500 at a worlds has been 16-year-old Jessy.
It's my first world championships and Team USA has been doing a great job so I wanted to keep that going.
Italy's Thomas Ceccon set a world record in the men's 100 backstroke with a time of 51.60 seconds, shaving 0.10 seconds off the previous best mark set by Ryan Murphy at the 2016 Olympics.
Ceccon said that he swam 52.10 yesterday. I feel good in the water and am focused on my race. It's all done.
Murphy finished second behind Ceccon.
Murphy was happy to see his record beaten. It's going to be an exciting couple of years with that fast time.
Giorgio Lamberti set a world record in long-course swimming. The men's 200 freestyle record was held byLamberti. Ceccon won the gold medal in the men's 100 backstroke at the worlds at the age of 21.
Ledecky has at least four world titles in each of the 1,500-, 800- and 400-meter freestyles. She won her 17th world title on Monday.
Michael Phelps won at least four gold medals in three different swimming events at the worlds, but only in one individual event, the 200 butterfly.
"I don't think anyone will beat her for a while, but I think it's a goal for everyone moving forward,'' said Australia's Lani Pallister, who finished third. She has set the standard for distance swimming.
For her country's first medal in this race, Pallister finished third. An Australian swimmer did not make the podium in the 1,500 freestyle at the worlds.
Italy's Simona Quadarella was the second-fastest in the race and finished fifth.
The United States won the gold medal in the women's 100 backstroke with a time of 58.22 seconds, 0.18 ahead of Canada and another American, Claire Curzan.
Italy's Benedetta Pilato, 17, won the women's 100 breaststroke in 1:05.93, 0.05 ahead of Germany's Anna Elendt and 0.10 ahead of Lithuania's. Pilato is the youngest person to win a gold medal at a worlds.
She brought her country's tally of golds to three, already as many as Italy's swimmers have ever achieved.
David Popovici set a world junior record in the 200 meters. South Korea's Hwang Sun-woo and Britain's Tom Dean had the fastest times.
The AP contributed.
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