READ: Katie Ledecky wins by 21 seconds in her first race for a year Having taken a year-long break from competitions amid the pandemic, Ledecky has recently returned to racing and showed few. The victories, the records, the head-shaking performances in which her only competition is the clock, are so frequent that they seem as routine as her unassuming comments after each race with history. Athlete. The Washington athlete is also holds the 800m and 1500m freestyle world records, and owns 18 of the 20 fastest 1500m freestyle times ever. Ledecky concluded the championships with another gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle, winning by a margin of 21.11-seconds (15:38.97). The next day, Ledecky lowered her meet record, winning the 800-meter freestyle final by nearly 10 seconds (8:10.32). A week after she obliterated the 1500m short-course record, Katie Ledecky broke another - this time in the 800m as she stormed to victory at the FINA World Cup in Indianapolis.. She met both. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, convincing victory during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, U.S. swimming trials bring some clarity for athletes after a year of uncertainty, Skateboard phenom Nyjah Huston, a rising Olympic star, blends in on SoCal streets, Elliott: Allyson Felixs desire to win gold on the Olympic stage continues to shine bright, Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold in giant slalom for seventh world title, Bass chief of staff says hell avoid Olympics issues for a year. But the more coaches and trainers and competitors grasp for answers, the more the reality comes into focus. She won the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyle races. Thats why Bruce Gemmell quips that Ledecky would be content to race in a cardboard box. About an hour later, she returned to the pool for the 1,500 freestyle final. She also swam in the 100-meter freestyle heats. Oh, man, this is not exactly what we thought, he said. The 1,500? At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Ledecky qualified to swim in the final of the 800-meter freestyle by placing third overall in the heats with a time of 8:23.84. Figure Skating championships. The goals were adjusted to pursue times that felt a little scary, a little unreasonable, more than a little exciting: 3:56 in the 400 freestyle and 8:05 in the 800 freestyle. [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. She has the 24 fastest swims of all time. She won gold in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyles in Tokyo, as well as silver medals in the 400-meter and 4x200-meter freestyle events. Inside the 24-year-old Katie Ledecky's decision to leave Stanford and join elite training partners and a new coach in Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, ahead of Paris 2024. In her first event in Barcelona, the 400-meter freestyle, Ledecky became a world champion for the first time by winning in 3:59.82, setting a new American record and becoming the second-fastest performer of all time in the event.[31]. Some said it would never happen. She wasnt a great puller. A combination of protein (like chicken, steak, or salmon) and a carb (like rice, vegetable, or pasta) rounds out her day. Sims anchored the team to a championship record time of 7:41.45. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. In the debut of the women's 1500 meter freestyle at the Summer Olympics, Ledecky set an Olympic record in her heat with a time of 15:35.35 and advanced to the final ranked first overall. I really havent had too many of those over the past couple months, so thats a good thing.. Most of the time she didnt. In the middle of a difficult practice, Sweetser noticed Ledecky staring at him. Then theres the sheer efficiency of how her body works. When reminiscing about her pre-teen years in the pool, she told an athletic trainer that she cared more about perfecting her stroke than about winning. [44] Ledecky was also named the female swimmer of the meet. She was also named the best female swimmer for 2013 by FINA Aquatics World magazine. Or perhaps the answer is more basic. Katie Ledecky competes in the womens 1500-meter freestyle during the U.S. Olympic swim trials on June 16 in Omaha, Neb. [89], Ledecky began 2021 at the TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio, Texas. In the team standings, Stanford beat runner-up California-Berkeley by 220 points, the largest margin of victory in 25 years. 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. But everybody feels that.. 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. In Budapest, Ledecky broke the World Aquatics Championships' all-time female gold medal record, winning five golds and one silver to bring her career title total to 14. Her six individual gold medals are the most of any female Olympic swimmer and female US Olympian, and the second-most of all Olympic swimmers behind Michael Phelps. One key is obsessive attention to detail. In the final, she joined Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, and Dana Vollmer and recorded a split of 52.79, helping the team earn a silver medal (behind Australia) with a time of 3:31.89, a new national record for the United States. A lot of people have the tendency to want to protect themselves in their training, Sweetser said. Her wins came in the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyles and the 4200-meter freestyle. In between London and Rio, Ledecky quietly became the world's most dominant swimmer no longer just a distance specialist. [32] The hard-fought race saw Ledecky overcome Dane Lotte Friis in the final few hundred meters after losing the lead at the 300-meter mark and included a final 50 split of 29.47. On the fourth day of the Olympic trials, for example, she won the 200 freestyle by a full body length after pulling away in the final 50 meters. Having already set 11 world records, she is a favorite to win at the Rio Olympics in the women's 200-, 400- and. Her gold was the first international medal of her career, earning her the 2012 Best Female Performance of the Year and Breakout Performer of the Year at the Golden Goggle Awards. She set the record in the event nine months later in 8:13.36. The quiet 15-year-old usually kept up with the men, who noticed fearlessness and poise that belied her youth. The next day, Ledecky anchored the United States team of Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. That performance burned into the coachs memory. On the final day of competition, she reset her world record in the 800-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 8:06.68. 578K followers. While every distance swimmer grinds through thousands of monotonous yards each week, these sessions are somehow different for Ledecky. Ledecky leaves some of the most experienced people in swimming grasping for the secret to her dominance. Her combined 20 individual titles at the Olympics (6) and World Aquatics Championships (14) is also a record for female swimmers. Twelve of the top 14 times. Four years later, she left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games, with four gold medals, one silver medal, and two world records. She was swimming like most classic female distance swimmers, Suguiyama later told the American Swimming Coaches Assn. [109][111] She swam a 1:55.11 in the 200 meter freestyle. Ledecky's time was the sixth-fastest ever (behind only her own performances) and over 7 seconds faster than her winning time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ledecky trailed Quadarella into the final wall. [131], Following the Olympic Games on September 22nd, Ledecky announced her intention to train with coach Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:54.02, and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:43.39. Katie Ledecky. 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). [76], Ledecky signed her first sponsorship deal with TYR Sport, Inc. on June 8, 2018. We dont clamor for such answers while admiring a sopranos voice or an actors ability to make us weep. Shes also remained remarkably healthy, aside from occasional illnesses, in a sport in which unrelenting training exacts a toll on the body. [16] Her uncle Jon Ledecky is a businessman and a co-owner of the NHL team New York Islanders. [34], Ledecky scored more points than any other swimmer to earn the FINA trophy for best female swimmer of the meet.[35]. [123] This was Ledecky's first loss in an individual event at the Olympics. At the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ledecky helped lead Stanford to its first team title since 1998. [130] Ledecky won her second gold medal of the Olympics and her seventh of all time in the 800-meter freestyle. She has an uncanny ability to remain herself, not flinch in the face of scrutiny and focus on the task at hand. All of this feeds Ledeckys ability to do things in the pool that arent normal. But she was always bouncing up and down, really bouncy in the water and I think you can swim better than that.. Ledecky won freestyle golds as a 16-year-old in the 2013 World Championships in the 400m, 800m, 1,500m and the 4x200m, following her first place in the 800m in London 2012. 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]. In the end, Ledecky was able to hold off a fast charging Pellegrini, eventually winning by a 0.16 margin. On the fifth day of competition, Ledecky, with Leah Smith, Mallory Comerford, and Melanie Margalis won gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay. [134], At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Ledecky won all four of her events: the 400 meter freestyle, 1500 meter freestyle, 4x200 freestyle relay, and 800-meter freestyle. [4], Ledecky began swimming at the age of six due to the influence of her older brother, Michael, and her mother, who swam for the University of New Mexico. The American . With the victory, Ledecky became the first swimmer, male or female, to win five consecutive world championship titles in an individual event. With this win being Ledecky's twelfth World Championship gold medal, Ledecky passed Missy Franklin for the most gold medals won by a female swimmer in long course World Championships history.[70]. 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. [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]. [47] Twenty-nine minutes later, Ledecky qualified 6th in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:56.76. [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. [127][128] In the finals of these two events, Ledecky failed to reach the podium for the 200 m freestyle, placing 5th behind Titmus, Haughey, Oleksiak, and Yang, but placed 1st in the 1500 m race, leading teammate Erica Sullivan (silver) by 4 seconds, clinching her first gold medal of the Games. Relief seemed to be the main emotion that sunk into Katie Ledecky's face as she touched the wall to claim her first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.. Ledecky's victory in the 1500m freestyle . [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. Katie Ledecky has no obvious physiological advantages as a swimmer. General swimmers tend to think that if they can just get their arms around faster and kick their legs faster, they can swim faster. May 4, 2020, 8:23 p.m. Five days after she turned 23, Katie Ledecky '20 . The biggest question when she knifes through the water usually isnt whether shes going to touch the wall first, but how many body lengths shell be in front of the second-place finisher. [62] On the meet's final day, Ledecky joined Manuel, Neal, and Janet Hu to break the NCAA and American record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The next day, Ledecky anchored for Team USA in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay, winning a silver medal alongside teammates Allison Schmitt, Paige Madden, and Katie McLaughlin behind China. This is something really, really special.. During the summers prior to 2012, she swam for Palisades Swim Team in Cabin John, Maryland. 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). "She's relatively short (at 5-foot-11) and she doesn't have an excessive wingspan." Nevertheless, Ledecky's arms are long enough to wrap around what could. Shes not doing some special strength program that nobody else knows about. She won the first-ever women's 1500 . For lengthy races like the 1,500 meters, this must remain constant for more than 15 minutes. They review the video together, as much for what he notices as her feedback. (Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press) Michael Phelps, the 28-time. Ledecky made her first splash in international swimming after her freshman year at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in . Im know Im supposed to be doing this too. But her career is also a two-way conversation. Katie Ledecky competes in the women's 1500-meter freestyle during the U.S. Olympic swim trials on June 16 in Omaha, Neb. Ledecky provided the US with an early lead, swimming the first leg in a personal best of 1:56.32. The process trumped everything. No. Instead, Ledecky has a gift that defies measurement. In the 1650-yard freestyle, Ledecky re-set her NCAA record in the 1000-yard free with a split of 9:05.89 en route to winning by more than 28 seconds. But Katie Ledecky would rather study it at Stanford once the Rio Games are in the past. Gemmell warned other men in the training camp to be ready for Ledecky to beat them. 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. Do not let it pass over you., Subscribers get early access to this story. [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. But she shows gratitude and appreciation and keeps people coming back to get their heads kicked in.. How fast would Torri Huske, the 18-year-old phenom headed to Stanford this fall, swim in the 100 butterfly final? But the time was almost five seconds off Ledeckys world record set in Rio. About 18 months before the London Olympics, Suguiyama suggested that Ledecky adopt the gallop. In the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky broke her own world record in a time of 15:25.48. They cant quantify this, but believe she hangs onto more water than other swimmers. [54], Ledecky won a second gold in the 200-meter freestyle with a personal best of 1:53.73, beating Sarah Sjstrm by 0.35 seconds. Katie just dives in headfirst and really forces you to get the most out of practice. And theyre ultimately suggestions straining to answer a larger question. She has no long torso, no wide. She broke the existing mark by five seconds. Thats amazing.. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Ledecky won two gold medals and two silver medals, making her the most decorated U.S. female athlete for a second straight Summer Olympics. Shes always trying to maximize her performance so theres nothing left in the tank. He can count on one hand the number of times she was floored by a workout. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. But within an hour of each other? ", "Katie Ledecky is top qualifier in 400-meter freestyle", "Olympics 2021: Day 3 schedule, what to watch, results from Tokyo as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky get started", "Ariarne Titmus vs Katie Ledecky - Watch Titmus Win Gold in the Women's 400m Freestyle Final at Tokyo 2020 Olympic", "Ledecky's Silver Medal Finish Still An Incredible Achievement", "Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap", "Katie Ledecky earns Olympic record, silver medal in busy day", "Watch: Ledecky Wins Both 200/1500 FR Heats, Douglass Wins 200 IM Prelims Heat", "2012 Olympic champion Allison Schmitt misses out on 200m freestyle final in Tokyo", "Katie Ledecky qualifies for 200m final, will face Titmus", "Katie Ledecky wins gold medal in 1,500 freestyle at Tokyo Olympics, US teammate Erica Sullivan takes silver", "Katie Ledecky 'let it go' in anchor leg of 4x200 relay, securing silver", "Katie Ledecky makes history with 6th individual gold, cements Olympic icon status, and she'll be back in 2024", "Olympic Champion Katie Ledecky Heads To Florida To Train Under Anthony Nesty", "The Week That Was: Katie Ledecky Announces Move to Gainesville, ISL Regular Season Concludes", "Katie Ledecky joining Florida Gators as volunteer swimming coach", "Ledecky stretches 22-medal record at worlds with 800 title", "Ledecky, Marchand Named FINA Swimmers of the Meet", "Katie Ledecky Pulls Away from Field to Retake 400 Free World Title", "Ledecky extends record medal haul at swimming worlds to 21", "Katie Ledecky Breaks 1500 Free World Record by 10 Seconds; Gets 800 AR En Route", "Katie Ledecky Breaks Second World Record In A Week", "Stanford Swimming Standout Katie Ledecky Wins Honda Cup; Named Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year", "Swimming World December 2021 Presents 2021 World Swimmers of the Year: Caeleb Dressel and Emma McKeon", "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2021: Women's #10 #1", "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Women's #10-1", "TIME Honors Distance Star Katie Ledecky As One Of Its Top 100 Influential People", "Katie Ledecky Claims Record-Tying Fifth USA Swimming Athlete of the Year Honor", "Stanford swimmer Katie Ledecky wins Honda Cup", "Katie Ledecky wins top academic honor among all Division I athletes", "ESPY Awards 2022: Katie Ledecky Wins Best Female Athlete Award", Katie Ledecky Stone Ridge School student-athlete profile, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katie_Ledecky&oldid=1140336672, 2022 Phillips 66 National Championships , USA Swimming Athlete of the Year: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, USA Swimming Performance of the Year Award: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, Golden Goggle Female Race of the Year: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022, Golden Goggle Breakout Performer of the Year: 2012, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 16:58. Ledecky was the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder. 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. [82], For the seventh-straight year, Ledecky finished the year with the top times in the world in both the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle (8:10.70 and 15:35.98). After earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team at age 15, she set an American record in the 800-meter freestyle to. But Ledecky doesnt just beat records, she transforms them. Yes. In her first event, the 400-meter freestyle, Ledecky successfully defended her world title, finishing with a championship record time of 3:58.34.