In her third, and first relay event of her international career, the 4200-meter freestyle, Ledecky and teammates Shannon Vreeland, Karlee Bispo, and Missy Franklin won gold in 7:45.14. Follow. She qualified in the heats with an Olympic record, 8:12.86, and set a world record in the finals of 8:04.79, over 11 seconds faster than the silver medalist, Jazmin Carlin. Then it did. Ledecky almost broke the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 8:11.35. [46], On the third day of competition during the morning session, Ledecky swam in the heats of the 200-meter freestyle and qualified first with a time of 1:55.82. On the final day of competition, she reset her world record in the 800-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 8:06.68. The usual gap for a world record is as thin as an Olympic medal. Visit latimes.com/olympics now and throughout the Games for the latest Olympic news and analysis. In the team standings, Stanford beat runner-up California-Berkeley by 220 points, the largest margin of victory in 25 years. At year's end, Ledecky was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. Her physiology? No. But within an hour of each other? Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle (both long course and short course) as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle (long course). Ledecky was the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder. The top 11 times. [84] Readers of The London Evening Standard voted Ledecky the International Sportswoman of the Decade. But can I please just watch? She won the first-ever women's 1500 . While every distance swimmer grinds through thousands of monotonous yards each week, these sessions are somehow different for Ledecky. Katie Ledecky is doing what Katie Ledecky does! the public address announcer shouted last month as she completed another convincing victory during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb. The 400? She took silver in her first race of the Games, and then missed out on medaling in the 200 . [23], At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska (her first senior national competition), Ledecky made the Olympic team by placing first in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:19.78, which was over two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kate Ziegler. Katie Ledecky was born on 17 March 1997 in Washington, DC, United States. [111] Ledecky won the 200 meter and 1500 meter freestyle finals in a time span of about 70 minutes as well as collecting her medal at the 200 meter freestyle medal ceremony and eating a snack. [65] In the meet's final event, Ledecky joined Manuel, Neal, and Hu to swim the second leg of Stanford's 400-yard freestyle relay. [42] Ledecky lapped three competitors in the final and finished 27.33 seconds ahead of silver medalist Boyle. Shes doing what everybody else does. But the time was almost five seconds off Ledeckys world record set in Rio. Its a remarkable combination, particularly for someone to be that dominant for so long, which takes so much commitment, while at the same time being so nice and polite and kind., Matt Barbini, USA Swimmings national team performance director. They cant quantify this, but believe she hangs onto more water than other swimmers. Fifty-two percent of SwimSwam.com readers voted Ledecky the top swimmer of the decade, ahead of Michael Phelps. Shes always trying to maximize her performance so theres nothing left in the tank. Katie Ledecky has no obvious physiological advantages as a swimmer. How fast would Torri Huske, the 18-year-old phenom headed to Stanford this fall, swim in the 100 butterfly final? Katie Ledecky reacts after winning her heat in the Womens 200 Freestyle during the second wave of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials on June 15 in Omaha, Neb. Katie Ledecky is the only female American competitive swimmer who owns most medals and holds the record in 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyles, 500, 1000, and 1650-yard freestyle events. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:55.64 and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:45.37. Since NCAA rules keep mens and womens swim teams that dont use the same coach from practicing together, Ledecky used lane 12 and Sweetser lane 11. In a video posted on social media last summer, Ledecky placed a glass of chocolate milk on her head, then swam the length of the pool. They swam identical workouts. Thats whats allowing her to get such a good grab of the water and have such good force generation per stroke.. What stood out to me was nothing stood out physically, he said. Maybe the explanation is unknowable. She has an uncanny ability to remain herself, not flinch in the face of scrutiny and focus on the task at hand. In that race, with the exception of the first 100 and final 50 meters, every 50-meter split was between 30.22 and 30.85 seconds. [124][125] In the same prelims session as the 1500 meter freestyle, Ledecky ranked first in the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 1:55.28 and advanced to the event's semifinals. The next day, Ledecky anchored the United States team of Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. [104] Two events later, she swam a 15:43.10 in the 1500 meter freestyle prelims, ranking as the fastest swimmer of prelims heat, advancing to the final, and setting a new Championship Record over four seconds faster than the previous record she set in 2013. [136], On the first day of competition, Ledecky won the 400-meter freestyle in a championship record 3:58.15, besting Canadian silver medalist Summer McIntosh by 1.24 seconds. [8], Ledecky was born in Washington, D.C.[1] and raised in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland,[9] the daughter of Mary Gen (Hagan) and David Ledecky. She has the 24 fastest swims of all time. Not a drop of milk spilled. Ledecky recorded a split of 52.64 in the heats. [96] In the evening final of the 400 meter freestyle, Ledecky finished first with a time of 4:01.27, securing her first spot on her third US Olympic Team swimming the 400 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Thats not new. Or Mark finding Ledecky eating alone in the dining hall at the London Olympics the day of her 800 freestyle final, appearing as calm as a seasoned veteran. On the first day of competition, Ledecky led Australian Ariarne Titmus into the final wall of the 400-meter freestyle final before fading to second. She became the first woman to win four individual gold medals at a single Pan Pacific Championship. Twelve of the top 14 times. The questions pile up too. . And Katie's got tiny feet, too. 'Gallop' or a 'giddy-up' Once the swimmers emerge from below the surface and. On the first day of competition, Ledecky won gold in the 800-meter freestyle with a championship-record time of 8:09.13, topping runner-up Ariarne Titmus of Australia by 7.94 seconds. What happened took everyone by surprise. On the third day of the meet, Ledecky set her fourth meet record in the 400-meter freestyle prelim heats with a time of 4:03.09. This is a completely different kind of race, 30 laps of endurance that is part of the womens Olympic program in Tokyo for the first time. Even if they are fit and strong like a football player, they cannot swim fast if they do not have the skill to catch the water, Takagi wrote in an email. Shes not doing it for the adulation, shes not doing it for the title of the worlds greatest swimmer, the coach said. It cant be easy to go train against Katie when you know youre going to get your head kicked in, said Keenan Robinson, Phelps longtime strength and conditioning coach. While Michael Phelps and his fighter-jet wingspan already have passed history by with a record 22 medals . Ledecky sometimes texts her mother, Mary Gen, or brother, Michael, after a particularly good set. With her pair of swims in the 800-meter freestyle, Ledecky took control of the top 11 fastest times in the event's history. Katie Ledecky reacts after competing in the womens 800-meter freestyle final during the U.S. Olympic trials at CHI Health Center on June 19 in Omaha, Neb. Ledecky trailed Quadarella into the final wall. [17] During her high-school swimming career, Ledecky twice set the American and US Open record in the 500-yard freestyle, and she twice set the national high-school record in the 200-yard freestyle. The next morning, Ledecky struggled through her preliminary heat of the 1500-meter freestyle despite qualifying first for the event's final. [25][26] Her third-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle was the fastest time ever swum by a 15- to 16-year-old American. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky erased a 1.2-second deficit going into the final leg of the race, passing Australia's Melanie Schlanger with a 1:54.36 split over the final 200 meters. She certainly is.. [135] Ledecky earned FINA's female swimmer of the meet trophy for a third time. Ledecky is a 10-time Olympic medalist with seven golds. But Katie Ledecky would rather study it at Stanford once the Rio Games are in the past. The time: 55.66 seconds. Or perhaps the answer is more basic. Stanford earned its second team title in as many years. So did Phelps asymmetrical stroke thats known as galloping or loping and is common among high-level men. Thats amazing.. She also took bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle. Swimming the third leg, Ledecky passed Australia and Canada to take the lead with the third-fastest split in history (1:53.67). Mary Gen Ledecky, who swam in college, encouraged her daughter to write down goals. Still recovering from illness, Ledecky qualified second the next day for the final of the 800-meter freestyle. At the Ohio State Invitational in November 2016, Ledecky lowered her American and U.S. Open marks in the women's 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle.[60]. She set a time of 15:08.24, breaking the previous world record set by German swimmer Sarah Khler by almost 10 seconds. [20], In December 2020, she completed the required courses for a bachelor of arts in psychology and minor in political science from Stanford University, [21][22] and graduated in June 2021. With three individual titles, Ledecky became the first swimmer to win the 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle at the same Olympics since Debbie Meyer did so in 1968 in Mexico City. [24] In Omaha, Ledecky also placed third in the 400-meter freestyle (4:05.00) and ninth in the 200-meter freestyle (1:58.66). Much like the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky let Lotte Friis lead most of the race, making a move at the 650-meter mark to eventually win the race by 2.46 seconds. Dinner. A lot of people have the tendency to want to protect themselves in their training, Sweetser said. I promise this isnt because Im getting my butt kicked.. The stories pile up. Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. Katie Ledecky owns her time. Some of these things that might have come naturally and unconsciously when she was 16, now its conscious, Mark said. Barbini noticed the mix of intensity and care thats as much a part of Ledecky as the blazing times. 883 following. She got her degree instead", "What's Next For Super Olympian Katie Ledecky? It might be easy to brush off the prediction as a fluke, but chance doesnt play much of a role when Ledecky is involved. [92] Because training facilities were closed during the pandemic, Ledecky and her colleague Simone Manuel trained for the Olympics in a 25-yard private pool in Atherton, in the backyard of masters swimmer Tod Spieker. She has an unnatural sense of what will happen in the pool call it swimming intelligence thats as impressive to witness as it is difficult to quantify. [76], Ledecky signed her first sponsorship deal with TYR Sport, Inc. on June 8, 2018. At the 2017 US National Championships, the qualifying meet for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, Ledecky won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle and earned a spot on six events. In the end, Ledecky was able to hold off a fast charging Pellegrini, eventually winning by a 0.16 margin. With her mark in the 400, Ledecky became the first female since Janet Evans to hold world records simultaneously in the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyles. [50] Earlier in the meet, she set world-leading times in the 200- and 400-meter freestyles and a U.S.-leading time in the 100-meter freestyle. She has an elder brother. Theres a lot more pressure when youre 24 and going to the Olympics for your third Games as a heavy favorite versus being 15 and going to the Olympics with barely anyone knowing your name. That continued when Ledecky arrived at Stanford as a freshman in 2016. Ledecky made her first splash in international swimming after her freshman year at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in . [18], During the summer of 2012, she trained with the Nation's Capital Swim Club (formerly the Curl Burke Swim Club) under coach Yuri Suguiyama. Somehow she makes this look easy. [130] Ledecky won her second gold medal of the Olympics and her seventh of all time in the 800-meter freestyle. [140], On October 28, during the Toronto round of the FINA Swimming World Cup, Ledecky swam the 1500m short course event for the first time. Katie wants to win by the most massive margin possible, but I dont think she wants to break anyones soul like Michael Jordan did. Katie Ledecky, byname of Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky, (born March 17, 1997, Washington, D.C., U.S.), American swimmer who was one of the sport's dominant freestylers in the early 21st century, breaking numerous records. [126] She swam a 1:55.34 in the semifinals of the 200 meter freestyle and advanced to the final ranking third overall. When Bruce Gemmell took over as Ledeckys coach at the Nations Capital Swim Club in late 2012, his young charge had an Olympic gold medal, but couldnt do a pullup. [107], On day 4, June 16, she won both the 200m and 1500m freestyle finals in the evening. Her wins came in the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle and the 4200-meter freestyle. They are the first Olympians to be given this honor. All of this feeds Ledeckys ability to do things in the pool that arent normal. During the 201718 NCAA season, Ledecky set another three NCAA records and two American records while helping lead Stanford to its second straight team title. David Marsh, an assistant on the team who served as the womens coach in 2016, recalled coaches gathering when Ledecky swam. Ledecky finished second in the 400-yard individual medley to Eastin, who lowered the record Ledecky set a month earlier at the Pac-12 Championships. If I have a bad practice, I dont let it get to me, Ledecky said. Ledecky was also named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 2017 and 2022, international female Champion of Champions by L'quipe in 2014 and 2017, United States Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year in 2013, 2016 and 2017, Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation in 2017, and the ESPY Best Female Athlete in 2022. [115][116] The following day in the final, Ledecky won with a time of 8:14.62 and qualified to swim the 800 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics for the United States.[117][118]. Having already set 11 world records, she is a favorite to win at the Rio Olympics in the women's 200-, 400- and. In her second event, Ledecky won gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in a world record time of 15:36.53, breaking the record held by compatriot Kate Ziegler by six seconds. [72], At the NCAA Championships, Ledecky won the 500 and 1650-yard freestyle events by record margins and anchored the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team of Katie Drabot, Brooke Forde, and Ella Eastin. Midway through the 25-meter journeys at the Palisades Swim and Tennis Club in Cabin John, Md., shed grab a lane line and catch her breath like so many other 6-year-olds figuring out how to swim. On the seventh day of competition, Ledecky completed her World Championships run by winning gold in the 800-meter freestyle in a world record time of 8:07.39, breaking her own record by 3.61 seconds.[44]. 422 posts. Then theres the sheer efficiency of how her body works. Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter. On the first day of the meet, Ledecky anchored the 800-yard freestyle relay with a 1:40.28 split to break the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record in the 800-yard freestyle relay with Lia Neal, Katie Drabot, and Ella Eastin. [38], At the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, Ledecky won five gold medals and broke two world records. Thats key to her success. I think I do a pretty good job of sticking to those and not seeing what kinds of medal counts or times that people are throwing out about what I could accomplish if everything goes perfectly.. At 6 feet, the second-time Olympian is not extraordinarily tall compared with her peers. [66], Following the season, Ledecky became the first freshman in 35 years to receive the Honda Cup, which recognizes the nation's top female collegiate athlete.[67]. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:54.02, and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:43.39. [122] Ledecky's time of 3:57.36 was the second-fastest time of her career and fourth-fastest in history. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky returned to competition three days later to swim the final of the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. [73], A week following Stanford's championship win, Ledecky announced at the National Press Club that she will forego her final two seasons of NCAA eligibility in order to accept professional endorsement and sponsorship opportunities.