[69], On the third day of competition, Ledecky defended her 1500-meter freestyle title, winning with a time of 15:31.82. At the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ledecky helped lead Stanford to its first team title since 1998. 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. And perhaps thats the greatest mystery of all. [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. This started as a child. 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. Katie Ledecky - Wikipedia On the meet's third day, Ledecky's 20th birthday, Ledecky recorded a personal-best time of 1:40.36 in the 200-yard freestyle to edge Manuel and tie Louisville sophomore Mallory Comerford for the title. Twice each week, she trained against long-distance swimmers Liam Egan and True Sweetser. Her face was red. At the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington, Ledecky earned Swimmer of the Meet honors with four American records as Stanford won its first conference title in four years. Catholic faith anchors swimmer Katie Ledecky - Religion News Service Yes. The next day, Ledecky anchored the United States team of Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. [126] She swam a 1:55.34 in the semifinals of the 200 meter freestyle and advanced to the final ranking third overall. A similar picture covered the front of the building as the trials took place last month, another reminder that she is the face of the sport. Ledecky began the World Championships by winning gold in the 400-meter freestyle in a time of 3:59.13, a new championship record and almost four seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Shes doing what everybody else does. Follow. [15] She was raised Catholic. What makes Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky so remarkable? A post shared by Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky). Katie Ledecky's height is 6 feet tall and her body weight is 73 kilograms. She doesnt have Phelps attention-grabbing build that included an 80-inch wingspan and size-14 feet that seemed to double as flippers. 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. Katie Ledecky joining Florida Gators as volunteer swimming coach - ESPN.com Ledecky is a 10-time Olympic medalist with seven golds. When Ledecky isn't training, she doesn't stray much from her . Before the London Olympics, Ledecky trained at the U.S. teams camp in Knoxville, Tenn., with a small group of middle- and long-distance swimmers under legendary coach Jon Urbanchek. To no surprise, Ledecky, who first broke the world record in the event in 2013, recorded the worlds top time in the event this year on the way to another victory. She set a time of 15:08.24, breaking the previous world record set by German swimmer Sarah Khler by almost 10 seconds. 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). Its a mindset that different to go out as fast as you can without being blatantly reckless.. Genetics? She took silver in her first race of the Games, and then missed out on medaling in the 200 . Unlike her other races, it was not an easy win for Ledecky, which featured the likes of Missy Franklin and Federica Pellegrini. Coming Sunday: Home subscribers will receive the Los Angeles Times 24-page Olympic preview section, your guide to the upcoming Games. 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. I really havent had too many of those over the past couple months, so thats a good thing.. She wasnt a great kicker. 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.. Dwyer topped out at 40 inches. But she shows gratitude and appreciation and keeps people coming back to get their heads kicked in.. [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. At just 19 years old, Katie Ledecky is the most dominant swimmer in the world. [74] She signed with Wasserman sports agent Dan Levy for representation.[75]. [141], The following week at the World Cup's Indianapolis stop, Ledecky broke the world record in the 800m short course freestyle. Ledecky, who has broken the 4-minute barrier in the distance 20 times, thought she had been faster. Having already set 11 world records, she is a favorite to win at the Rio Olympics in the women's 200-, 400- and. Were content to enjoy the gift. She has the 24 fastest swims of all time. She also swam in the 100-meter freestyle heats. [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). [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. [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. Thats whats allowing her to get such a good grab of the water and have such good force generation per stroke.. Katie Ledecky on her Tokyo wins, mental health and gender - PBS Ledecky won easily in 4 minutes 1.27 seconds, the 43rd-fastest swim ever by a woman. Raising gold: Katie Ledecky's journey to becoming an Olympic gold Katie wants to win by the most massive margin possible, but I dont think she wants to break anyones soul like Michael Jordan did. During a stint at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in early 2016, Conor Dwyer, a two-time Olympian, engaged in a friendly contest with Ledecky jumping onto flat surfaces at increasing heights. [123] This was Ledecky's first loss in an individual event at the Olympics. 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. Ledecky was the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder. They realized the goals, lofty as they might seem for a teenager, were too pedestrian. Or Gemmell calling other coaches for ideas on how to challenge this once-in-a-lifetime teenager doing crazy stuff in practice. However, elite swimmers focus on how to generate propulsion more efficiently.. Her time of 7:57.42 surpassed Mireia Belmonte's mark from 2013.[142]. During their next training session, he recalled, she said, Weve got to get our 40. She did. They swam identical workouts. 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. National Team Director Frank Busch described Ledecky's 1500 performance as "the most impressive race I have ever seen, and I've been in the sport for 50 years. She's blazing a completely different trail than anyone who has come before. You just watch the force that she pulls with and its way, way different., Laguna Beachs Nyjah Huston brings a fierce commitment to training to a rebellious sport, making the skateboarder a star to watch in the Tokyo Olympics. Katie Ledecky Moves Training Base to University of Florida In the final, Ledecky swam to an early lead before Italian swimmer Simona Quadarella took over midway through the race. Katie Ledecky Reaches For Remarkable Olympic Performance - Team USA . Katie Ledecky has no obvious physiological advantages as a swimmer. Ledecky began the year by breaking her own world records in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle at the 2014 Woodlands Swim Team Senior Invitational in June. She got her degree instead", "What's Next For Super Olympian Katie Ledecky? 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. Katie Ledecky Wins Her 1st Gold In Tokyo, Reflects On The - NPR Katie Ledekcy won two golds and two silvers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 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 most impressive thing for me is blocking out the noise and not feeling the pressure., Urbanchek put it bluntly: Nothing distracts her., Theres no special sauce. Thats amazing.. I promise this isnt because Im getting my butt kicked.. She also took bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle. Shes not doing some special strength program that nobody else knows about. Katie Ledecky is the most decorated of female swimmer in history with six individual Olympic gold medals and 14 individual long course world titles to date. A swimmer needs ample strength for this approach to work. 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. She doesnt have a central governor like most athletes do, that mind-to-muscle idea that I need to shut down right now. Theres nothing you can throw at her that she cant convince herself that she can do.. Two days later, she recorded a time of 1:54.88 en route to winning the 200-meter freestyle. [88] Ledecky did not compete at any other events during 2020. [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].