[120][121] However, she finished second to Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus to win the silver medal, trailing Titmus by half a second after leading at the 300m mark. Ledecky, who has broken the 4-minute barrier in the distance 20 times, thought she had been faster. Is it her training? At year's end, Ledecky was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. What Makes the Perfect Swimmer's Body? - Swimming World News Theres a decades worth of underwater video too. 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. Ledecky's final 50-meter split of 29.33 was the second-fastest in the field behind Pellegrini's 29.23.[49]. Katie Ledecky isn't just an Olympian; she's one of the most gifted athletes in the world. 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. 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. He thought the she was sizing him up as another opponent to defeat. 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. Notably, in the semifinals the day prior, Ledecky recorded the top time in the semifinals with a time of 1:54.69. Katie Ledecky | Biography, Olympic Medals, Records, & Facts 422 posts. She has recognition of these things in the middle of a race and can make an adjustment. Allyson Felix is determined to make the U.S. Olympic track and field team for the upcoming Tokyo Games as she looks to add to her legacy in the sport. She set the record in the event nine months later in 8:13.36. [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. Katie Ledecky's height is 6 feet tall and her body weight is 73 kilograms. But Katie Ledecky would rather study it at Stanford once the Rio Games are in the past. 'It's unheard of': How Katie Ledecky excels as both an endurance and He good-naturedly described her competition-like intensity in practice as really annoying. Even years after the sessions, the words carry a mixture of awe and disbelief. Barbini noticed the mix of intensity and care thats as much a part of Ledecky as the blazing times. She subsequently announced her withdrawal from the 1500 and 200-meter freestyle due to illness.[81]. A lot of people have the tendency to want to protect themselves in their training, Sweetser said. The most important expectations are the ones that I have for myself, said Ledecky, who graduated from Stanford with a psychology degree last month. The American . Katie Ledecky shifts her training base to University of Florida ahead of Paris 2024. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) At . In Bethesda, she attended Little Flower School through eighth grade and graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in 2015. [137], Ledecky won the 1500-meter freestyle two days later in a time of 15:30.15, over 14 seconds faster than runner-up and teammate Katie Grimes. That continued when Ledecky arrived at Stanford as a freshman in 2016. Sims anchored the team to a championship record time of 7:41.45. Ledecky competes against herself (1:59) U.S. Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky talks to Hannah Storm about how she got started swimming, how she set goals for herself when she was young and how the . The history-making has become so common, so many would-be competitors left so far behind, that expectations, just like the pictures, are larger than life. [112][113][114], Friday June 18, 2021, the sixth day of competition, Ledecky won with a time of 8:16.61 in the prelims heats of the 800-meter freestyle and advanced to the final. 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.. [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. [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. Shes kind of a freak athlete, said Lee Sommers, an athletic trainer in Bethesda, Md., who helped prepare Ledecky for Rio. Ledecky made her debut as a professional swimmer on May 16, 2018, at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she beat her old world record in the 1500-meter freestyle, setting a new world record of 15:20.48. Yuri Suguiyama, her first coach, watched Phelps break Australian Ian Thorpes world record in the 200 freestyle during the world championships in Melbourne. Katie Grimes, who at 15 finished second in the 1,500-meter freestyle during the swim trials, said, "Maybe I can be just like Katie [Ledecky] one day," after her trials performance. 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. Competing in both events is rare enough. The same all-out approach Ledecky brought to the final 25 meters of the 200 freestyle at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics she edged Swedens Sarah Sjostrom by .35 seconds for gold despite feeling queasy happens regularly in practice with nothing at stake other than numbers on a clock. Each month, she sends practice video to Russell Mark, a former rocket scientist who is USA Swimmings national team performance manager. Michael Phelps, the 28-time Olympic medalist, called Ledecky the greatest female swimmer of our time.. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics, 14 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, and 22 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. But she addressed it and moved forward. 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. Ledecky concluded the meet with a win in the 800-meter freestyle, her fifth-straight title in the event across Olympics and World Championships. [64] On the meet's final day, Ledecky set an NCAA record in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:06.90) en route to a championship record in the 1650-yard freestyle (15:07.70), defeating runner-up Smith by 21.19 seconds and lapping all other competitors. The 1,500? Dwyer topped out at 40 inches. Ledecky is the first swimmer to win the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyles in a major competition. The girl couldnt make it across the pool. Still recovering from illness, Ledecky qualified second the next day for the final of the 800-meter freestyle. 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. Katie Ledecky hugs Erica Sullivan after winning the womens 1500 freestyle during the second wave of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials on June 16 in Omaha, Neb. She was also named the best female swimmer for 2013 by FINA Aquatics World magazine. Ledecky finished her high-school career as the holder of the Stone Ridge school record in every swimming event except the 100-meter breaststroke. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Ledecky battled illness and withdrew from two events before winning her fourth-straight World Championship title in the 800-meter freestyle. Shes doing what everybody else does. She took silver in her first race of the Games, and then missed out on medaling in the 200 . Thats whats allowing her to get such a good grab of the water and have such good force generation per stroke.. [108][109][110] Ledecky swam a 15:40.50 in the 1500 meter freestyle, lowering her Championship Record from the day before and becoming the first winner of the women's 1500 meter freestyle at the US Olympic Trials. How fast would Torri Huske, the 18-year-old phenom headed to Stanford this fall, swim in the 100 butterfly final? [53], Her first individual event was the 400-meter freestyle. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:55.64 and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:45.37. The Washington athlete is also holds the 800m and 1500m freestyle world records, and owns 18 of the 20 fastest 1500m freestyle times ever. Her face was red. The stroke thats propelled Ledecky to record after record is connected to another legend. After earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team at age 15, she set an American record in the 800-meter freestyle to. Oh, man, this is not exactly what we thought, he said. [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. The next day, Ledecky lowered her own mark again in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:25.15. 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. On the final day of competition, she reset her world record in the 800-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 8:06.68. Ledecky's success has earned her Swimming World's Female World Swimmer of the Year a record-breaking five times. She takes a little advantage by doing all these little things a little bit better and I think that all adds up to her being so much better than everybody else, Barbini said. Visit latimes.com/olympics now and throughout the Games for the latest Olympic news and analysis. In the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky broke her own world record in a time of 15:25.48. [135] Ledecky earned FINA's female swimmer of the meet trophy for a third time. Matt Barbini, USA Swimmings national team performance director, recalled the feeling after Ledeckys surprise victory in the 800 at the London Olympics in 2012 introduced the little-known teenager to the world. The swim was the fifth-fastest in history and earned Ledecky the 28 fastest times in the distance. [130] Ledecky won her second gold medal of the Olympics and her seventh of all time in the 800-meter freestyle. [68] Later that evening, Ledecky swam the third leg of the 4100-meter freestyle. Maybe the explanation is unknowable. [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 won the first-ever women's 1500 . 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. Andrew Gemmell, the coachs son who competed at the London Olympics in the 1,500 freestyle, trained with Ledecky in the two years leading up to Rio. Shes always trying to maximize her performance so theres nothing left in the tank. Shes able to really lean into each arm, Sweetser said. In between London and Rio, Ledecky quietly became the world's most dominant swimmer no longer just a distance specialist. All of this feeds Ledeckys ability to do things in the pool that arent normal. In her international debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games as a 15-year-old, Ledecky unexpectedly won the gold medal in the women's 800-metre freestyle. Ledecky won by 4.13 seconds and just missed the world record by 0.53 seconds. The traits, at least individually, arent uncommon in elite swimmers. Gemmell warned other men in the training camp to be ready for Ledecky to beat them. Even elite womens swimmers at the Olympics arent able to pull off that kind of stroke.. Two days later, she recorded a time of 1:54.88 en route to winning the 200-meter freestyle. [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. OMAHA As she prepared for her first Olympics nine years ago, a 15-year-old Katie Ledecky carried hopes and dreams into the London Games. [44] Ledecky was also named the female swimmer of the meet. [52], Ledecky's first event in the 2016 Summer Olympics was the 4100-meter freestyle relay, swimming the anchor leg for the United States in both the prelims and final. When she started working with Gemmell in 2012, she could not . She also took bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle. Its just her commitment and desire for getting better.. Shes doing what everybody else does. She became the first woman to win four individual gold medals at a single Pan Pacific Championship. How Katie Ledecky swims faster than the rest of the world Katie wants to win by the most massive margin possible, but I dont think she wants to break anyones soul like Michael Jordan did. She keeps logbooks chronicling most of her practices dating to 2011. She wasnt great at skills or drills we would try and teach her. There were many times where she was walking up for practice and I think, Thats the best female athlete in the world? Id just kind of chuckle to myself because theres nothing that said that.. In the final, Ledecky swam to an early lead before Italian swimmer Simona Quadarella took over midway through the race. [15] She was raised Catholic. At the Texas A&M Invitational in November 2017, Ledecky lowered her American and U.S. Open mark in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:03.31. But Ledecky doesnt just beat records, she transforms them. [29] In the final, Ledecky stunned the field, winning gold by more than four seconds, with a time of 8:14.63, the then second-fastest effort of all time just behind Rebecca Adlington's world record of 8:14.10 set in 2008. General swimmers tend to think that if they can just get their arms around faster and kick their legs faster, they can swim faster. She doesnt have an unusually long torso or long arms or large hands. 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. But she was always bouncing up and down, really bouncy in the water and I think you can swim better than that.. Thats key to her success. During their next training session, he recalled, she said, Weve got to get our 40. She did. 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. She got her degree instead", "What's Next For Super Olympian Katie Ledecky? Katie Ledecky heads to Tokyo Olympics - The Washington Post Katie Ledecky Height, Weight, Measurements, Bra Size, Wiki, Biography Shes not doing some special strength program that nobody else knows about. In her fourth and last event, the 800-meter freestyle, Ledecky won gold in a world record of 8:13.86, bettering Rebecca Adlington's world record of 8:14.10. And Ariarne Titmus, the 20-year-old sensation nicknamed The Terminator, posted the second-best time in history a day earlier at the Australian trials. Genetics? 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. The 400? [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. The time: 55.66 seconds. 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. At the Olympic trials last month, Greg Meehan, Ledeckys coach who leads the Stanford womens swimming program and the womens Olympic team, asked for a prediction. In the evening session, Ledecky faced a tough double with the 1500-meter freestyle final and the semi-finals of the 200-meter freestyle shortly after. 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. Ledecky almost broke the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 8:11.35. Shes not afraid to fail. [105][106] Later the same day in the evening semifinals for the 200 meter freestyle, Ledecky finished first with a time of 1:55.83. A seven-time Olympic gold medalist and record-breaking swimmer, 24-year-old Katie Ledecky is one of the most decorated Olympic athletes from the Tokyo games. 3x U.S. Olympic Swimmer (2012, 2016, 2021) 7x Olympic Gold Medalist 19x World Champion Stanford grad #TeamTYR - Katie@teamwass.com. 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.. 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. Hideki Takagi, a professor at the University of Tsukuba in Japan focused on the hydrodynamics and biomechanics of swimming, underlined the importance of this trait. 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. The time that would be a career-making moment for almost any other swimmer surprised her. The usual gap for a world record is as thin as an Olympic medal. During the 201617 NCAA season, Ledecky set 12 NCAA records and nine American records while swimming as a freshman for Stanford University. [97][98][99][100] This accomplishment was highlighted by various news outlets including NBC Sports, Newsweek, and USA Today. Follow. A 58-foot-wide picture of Ledecky adorned the outside of the CHI Health Center in Omaha during the Olympic trials in 2016. Most of the time she didnt. The five-time Olympic gold medalist owns world records in the 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter freestyles. She had a smile that seemed bigger than her diminutive frame, swim cap pulled over her ears and enthusiastic post-race analyses captured on home movies. But the more coaches and trainers and competitors grasp for answers, the more the reality comes into focus. She has an elder brother. [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. On the fifth day of competition, Ledecky, with Leah Smith, Mallory Comerford, and Melanie Margalis won gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay. The 800? With her pair of swims in the 800-meter freestyle, Ledecky took control of the top 11 fastest times in the event's history. On the third day, Ledecky defeated Titmus wire-to-wire in the 400-meter freestyle.[80]. What transformed that girl who couldnt make it across the pool? The next day, Ledecky anchored the United States team of Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. No. Katie Ledecky, left, finishes the womens 400-meter freestyle final far ahead of silver medal winner Leah Smith, right, during the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on July 23, 2017. Many of the top women in the world also possess great height, as world record-holders Sarah Sjostrom and Katie Ledeckey are both six feet tall (1.83m), while 100 free gold medalists Simone Manuel. Shes just doing it better than everybody else.. She certainly is.. So did Phelps asymmetrical stroke thats known as galloping or loping and is common among high-level men. [61] On the meet's third day, she won the 400-yard individual medley in a new American record of 3:57.68 before finishing second to teammate Simone Manuel in the 200-yard freestyle with a personal best time less than a half hour later. At the 750-meter mark, Ledecky was 3.42 seconds ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garca, and 0.31 seconds under world record pace. [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. At the academic year's conclusion, the College Sports Information Directors of America named Ledecky the Division I Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for her athletic and academic achievements. Do not let it pass over you., Subscribers get early access to this story. The standards for her externally, I think, are just tough sometimes, Meehan said. Thats not new. In her first event, the 400-meter freestyle, Ledecky successfully defended her world title, finishing with a championship record time of 3:58.34. The Untold Truth Of Katie Ledecky - TheList [132][133] Additionally, Ledecky signed on to be a volunteer swim coach for the Florida Gators. God? More recently, in the 1,500 at the Olympic trials, again, except . [108] These two swims secured her spots on the US Olympic Team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 1500 meter freestyle and 200 meter freestyle individual events as well as the 4x200 meter freestyle relay. [107], On day 4, June 16, she won both the 200m and 1500m freestyle finals in the evening. She met both. Are you willing to push yourself beyond all comprehension or are you not? Nagle said. Maybe there isnt a secret. [101][102][103], In the morning of day three, Ledecky swam a 1:57.58 in the 200 meter freestyle prelims, ranking second fastest of all heats. [138], Ledecky joined Claire Weinstein, Leah Smith, and Bella Sims on the U.S. 4x200 freestyle relay on day five. [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. Katie Ledecky Wins Her 1st Gold In Tokyo, Reflects On The - NPR "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. While Michael Phelps and his fighter-jet wingspan already have passed history by with a record 22 medals . Not a drop of milk spilled. That night, Ledecky lowered the record again, setting the first world record ever at the new Gold Coast Aquatic Center with a time of 3:58.37. Her combined 20 individual titles at the Olympics (6) and World Aquatics Championships (14) is also a record for female swimmers. (Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press) Michael Phelps, the 28-time. [45], In the heats of the 1500-meter freestyle on the second day of competition, Ledecky broke her own world record in a time of 15:27.71. The questions pile up too. Is she tall for an elite swimmer? At the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ledecky helped lead Stanford to its first team title since 1998. [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 stories pile up. Theres a lot of noise, said Janet Evans, the four-time Olympic gold medalist who is considered one of the greatest distance swimmers in history and now works as the chief athlete officer for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Committee. Olympian Katie Ledecky Shares Her Diet and Training Routine - Prevention In the end, Ledecky was able to hold off a fast charging Pellegrini, eventually winning by a 0.16 margin. Thats why Bruce Gemmell quips that Ledecky would be content to race in a cardboard box. [94][95] The 400 meter freestyle was the first race on Ledecky's schedule where she had the opportunity to make the 2020 USA Olympic Team. Katie Ledekcy won two golds and two silvers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 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. Katie Ledecky owns her time. It was two big kicks and bilateral breathing. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:54.02, and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:43.39. She achieved this result less than an hour after swimming the 1500-meter freestyle final. Despite being in season and swimming multiple events, Ledecky was able to first break the world record in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:34.23,[36] bettering her previous mark of 15:36.53. 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. During her career, she has broken sixteen world records. Before she entered the pool, the United States was trailing both Australia and China, but she swam a time of 1:53.76 to finish the race 0.4 seconds behind the Chinese swimmer Li Bingjie and ahead of Australia, who were the favorites coming into the competition. The swimmer wowed the world in 2012 when she competed in her first Olympics at just 15 and won a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle competition. Twelve of the top 14 times. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events.

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