Its a mindset that different to go out as fast as you can without being blatantly reckless.. [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]. Katie Ledecky has a height of 6'0" (1.83 m). Ledecky returned to competition three days later to swim the final of the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Ledecky breaking an arm in fourth grade, but jumping back into the pool with a cast. [87] Ledecky withdrew from the 800-meter freestyle race due to illness. At year's end, Ledecky was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. About an hour later, she returned to the pool for the 1,500 freestyle final. This is something really, really special.. [132][133] Additionally, Ledecky signed on to be a volunteer swim coach for the Florida Gators. 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. Her physiology? At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Ledecky won the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyles to qualify for her second Olympic team. He describes them as holy cannoli swims that would leave almost anyone elses jaw on the floor. Swimming the third leg, Ledecky passed Australia and Canada to take the lead with the third-fastest split in history (1:53.67). She broke the existing mark by five seconds. Ledecky won easily in 4 minutes 1.27 seconds, the 43rd-fastest swim ever by a woman. [88] Ledecky did not compete at any other events during 2020. [30] In addition, she broke Janet Evans' American record of 8:16.22 that had stood since 1989. Her Czech-born paternal grandfather Jaromr Ledecky arrived in New York City on September 8, 1947, as a student,[10] later becoming an economist, and married an Ashkenazi Jewish woman named Berta Ruth Greenwald (Ledecky's paternal grandmother) in Brooklyn on December 30, 1956, and through her Ledecky has relatives who were killed in the Holocaust in Europe. 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]. 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. She won three individual gold medals at the 2013 World Championships,. Genetics? Stanford earned its second team title in as many years. 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. 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. She has the 24 fastest swims of all time. 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. On July 1, Ledecky broke Janet Evans's 28-year-old national championship record in the morning preliminary heats of the 800-meter freestyle (8:10.91) before placing seventh that evening in the 100-meter freestyle (53.99). [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. [97][98][99][100] This accomplishment was highlighted by various news outlets including NBC Sports, Newsweek, and USA Today. Shes doing what everybody else does. The time that would be a career-making moment for almost any other swimmer surprised her. [39], In the 200-meter freestyle final, Ledecky had over a half-second lead on the field at the halfway point before winning by 1.46 seconds with a meet record time of 1:55.74. On the meet's first day, she recorded the team's fastest split to lower the 800-yard freestyle relay record to 6:45.91 with Manuel, Neal, and Eastin. 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. The next day, Ledecky added her third meet record by swimming on the American 4200-meter freestyle relay team with Shannon Vreeland, Missy Franklin, and Leah Smith. [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. During their next training session, he recalled, she said, Weve got to get our 40. She did. [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. Ledecky recorded a split of 52.64 in the heats. 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. [89], Ledecky began 2021 at the TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio, Texas. 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. [86], Ledecky began 2020 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa, where she won the 200-, 400- and 1500-meter freestyle races. Ledecky's fastest time in the 400 freestyle is the world record time, 3:56.46, set in her gold medal-winning performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Not a drop of milk spilled. 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. "Katie Ledecky is the student that takes 20 credits a semester at Harvard and gets a 4.0 every semester -- and nobody likes that person," said Elizabeth Beisel, a 2012 Olympic silver and bronze . David Marsh, an assistant on the team who served as the womens coach in 2016, recalled coaches gathering when Ledecky swam. Thats key to her success. Shes always trying to maximize her performance so theres nothing left in the tank. Shes just doing it better than everybody else., Bruce Gemmell, Katie Ledeckys coach at the Nations Capital Swim Club, Some of this immunity to pressure comes from her knack to set goals, internalize them, then turn them into reality. 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. [41], On the meet's final day, Ledecky set her fifth world record of the year, lowering her record in the 1500-meter freestyle by nearly six seconds with a time of 15:28.36. Ledecky has plenty, starting with the hip turn and core that provide much of her power. In winning the 400 through 1500-meter titles, she became the second woman ever to win the events in a World Championships since German Hannah Stockbauer in 2003. Then the windmilling to the other side resumed. In the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky broke her own world record in a time of 15:25.48. If I have a bad practice, I dont let it get to me, Ledecky said. Yuri Suguiyama, her first coach, watched Phelps break Australian Ian Thorpes world record in the 200 freestyle during the world championships in Melbourne. Shes not afraid to fail. Ledecky trailed Quadarella into the final wall. 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. Michael Phelps, the 28-time Olympic medalist, called Ledecky the greatest female swimmer of our time.. [58] Ledecky was also the 2nd most decorated Olympian at the 2016 games behind Michael Phelps (5 golds, 1 silver).[59]. Barbini noticed the mix of intensity and care thats as much a part of Ledecky as the blazing times. [93], On the second day, June 14, 2021, Ledecky competed in the prelims of the 400 meter freestyle in the morning, swimming a 4:03.07, ranking 1st out of all prelims heats, and advancing to the final in the evening. Ledecky accepted an athletic scholarship to Stanford University, where she swam for coach Greg Meehan's Stanford Cardinal women's swimming team. After earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team at age 15, she set an American record in the 800-meter freestyle to. How fast would Torri Huske, the 18-year-old phenom headed to Stanford this fall, swim in the 100 butterfly final? Ledecky's supremacy is not born of any freakish physiological gifts such as Phelps' enormous wingspan or double jointed ankles. Ledecky has also received the following awards:[143], Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 16:58, Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, United States Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year, College Sports Information Directors of America, Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, FINA Best Swimming Performance of the Year, List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women), List of top Olympic gold medalists in swimming, List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women), List of individual gold medalists in swimming at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships (women), World record progression 400 metres freestyle, World record progression 800 metres freestyle, World record progression 1500 metres freestyle, Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016, "Katie Ledecky Turns Pro After Dominating College Swimming", "How Katie Ledecky Became the Greatest Distance Swimmer of All Time", "The debate about Washington's greatest athlete is over: it's Katie Ledecky", "Ledecky Johns Elite Company With Third Straight Title in 800 Freestlye", Katie Ledecky wins Female Athlete of the Olympic Games, "New York City Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957", "Back to her roots: How Katie Ledecky became so dominant in the pool", "Gold medalist swimmer inspired by her Jewish history", "Pozor, vlny. 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. 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. She achieved this result less than an hour after swimming the 1500-meter freestyle final. Ledecky uses a short left stroke, followed by a long right one, while breathing on her right side every other stroke, and repeating the pattern. 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. [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. Katie Ledecky was born on March 17, 1997 in Washington, D.C. (via Britannica).One of her most memorable childhood moments was captured on camera, and she shared it with her Twitter followers in . Her combined 20 individual titles at the Olympics (6) and World Aquatics Championships (14) is also a record for female swimmers. But she was always bouncing up and down, really bouncy in the water and I think you can swim better than that.. 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.. The process trumped everything. Some said it would never happen. 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. Do not let it pass over you., Subscribers get early access to this story. Shes not doing some special strength program that nobody else knows about. Katie Ledecky competes in the women's 1500-meter freestyle during the U.S. Olympic swim trials on June 16 in Omaha, Neb. At the 750-meter mark, Ledecky was 3.42 seconds ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garca, and 0.31 seconds under world record pace.