What makes Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky so remarkable? (RNS) Katie Ledecky has no obvious physiological advantages as a swimmer. 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. Born in Maryland in 1997, Katie Ledecky began swimming competitively at age six. 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. [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. [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. Katie Ledecky Biography, Olympic Medals, Records and Age Shes just doing it better than everybody else.. In the final, Ledecky swam to an early lead before Italian swimmer Simona Quadarella took over midway through the race. Or perhaps the answer is more basic. 578K followers. Coaches, teammates and competitors point to her powerful stroke, legendary training sessions, unusual blend of speed and endurance, and tenacity that is otherworldly. 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. I think she loves the training more than she loves competing, Michael said. Following Suguiyama's departure to coach for the University of California, Berkeley, she continued to train with the Nation's Capital Swim Club under coach Bruce Gemmell through the 2016 Olympics. 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. During the 201617 NCAA season, Ledecky set 12 NCAA records and nine American records while swimming as a freshman for Stanford University. [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). [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. [38], At the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, Ledecky won five gold medals and broke two world records. She wasnt a great kicker. Katie Ledecky breaks yet another world record | CNN Somehow she makes this look easy. Dean Boxall on THAT celebration after Ariarne Titmus beat Katie Ledecky When Titmus first turned up to training with Boxall she was 16 seconds off Ledecky in the 400m, but slowly started to chip away and after a year she had halved the gap. They are the first Olympians to be given this honor. The quiet 15-year-old usually kept up with the men, who noticed fearlessness and poise that belied her youth. [42] Ledecky lapped three competitors in the final and finished 27.33 seconds ahead of silver medalist Boyle. Katie Ledecky owns her time. The next morning, Ledecky struggled through her preliminary heat of the 1500-meter freestyle despite qualifying first for the event's final. This is something really, really special.. It worked. She set a time of 15:08.24, breaking the previous world record set by German swimmer Sarah Khler by almost 10 seconds. 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. Her 400-meter split was 4:04.34, a personal best for Ledecky in that distance, and would have placed fifth in the individual 400-meter freestyle. Were offering L.A. Times subscribers first access to our best journalism. What Makes the Perfect Swimmer's Body? - Swimming World News And theyre ultimately suggestions straining to answer a larger question. If I have a bad practice, I dont let it get to me, Ledecky said. [51] At the conclusion of the week, Ledecky was named the female swimmer of the meet. 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. Yuri Suguiyama, her first coach, watched Phelps break Australian Ian Thorpes world record in the 200 freestyle during the world championships in Melbourne. But she acknowledged having the same nerves as any other competitor at the trials and, in all sincerity, said she didnt take making the Tokyo Games for granted. At just 19 years old, Katie Ledecky is the most dominant swimmer in the world. 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. They cant quantify this, but believe she hangs onto more water than other swimmers. 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). Do not let it pass over you., Subscribers get early access to this story. [90], On Thursday May 20, 2021, at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite Ledecky won the long course 100 meter freestyle final by one one-hundredth of a second in a time of 53.82 with second place going to Simone Manuel. Rio 2016 Olympics: Katie Ledecky already a step ahead of - Telegraph [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. 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. The process trumped everything. Nature versus nurture? Shes not afraid to fail. [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. Katie Ledecky studied at Stanford University. The time that would be a career-making moment for almost any other swimmer surprised her. She also swam in the 100-meter freestyle heats. Shes doing what everybody else does. 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. Or Gemmell calling other coaches for ideas on how to challenge this once-in-a-lifetime teenager doing crazy stuff in practice. It might be easy to brush off the prediction as a fluke, but chance doesnt play much of a role when Ledecky is involved. 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. Swimming the anchor leg, Ledecky recorded a split of 1:55.64 and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:45.37. A combination of protein (like chicken, steak, or salmon) and a carb (like rice, vegetable, or pasta) rounds out her day. [84] Readers of The London Evening Standard voted Ledecky the International Sportswoman of the Decade. 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. Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. Ledecky was the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder. Shes kind of a freak athlete. Katie Ledecky on the brink of Olympic history: How a backyard pool and [44] Ledecky was also named the female swimmer of the meet. 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.. Joined with Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Worrell, and Simone Manuel, Ledecky recorded a split of 53.83, helping the team win gold with a time of 3:31.72, a new national record for the United States. The questions pile up too. Thats key to her success. [33] Anchor Missy Franklin overtook Australian Alicia Coutts in the last 200 meters, giving the US the gold. [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. She subsequently announced her withdrawal from the 1500 and 200-meter freestyle due to illness.[81]. 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. But her career is also a two-way conversation. 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. Less than an hour later, Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle, swimming under her world record pace for most of the race before touching in at 8:11.35, the second-fastest time ever, to win by 7.52 seconds over New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle.[40]. About an hour later, she returned to the pool for the 1,500 freestyle final. 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. [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. Katie just dives in headfirst and really forces you to get the most out of practice. What I found over time what she was great at, though, was her desire to get better. Ledecky provided the US with an early lead, swimming the first leg in a personal best of 1:56.32. On the fifth day of competition, Ledecky, with Leah Smith, Mallory Comerford, and Melanie Margalis won gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay. Some of the boys said, Jon, get her out of our lanes. [53], Her first individual event was the 400-meter freestyle. After earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team at age 15, she set an American record in the 800-meter freestyle to. Is she tall for the average person? Shes able to really lean into each arm, Sweetser said. Ledecky, who has broken the 4-minute barrier in the distance 20 times, thought she had been faster. The traits, at least individually, arent uncommon in elite swimmers. 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. Katie Ledecky heads to Tokyo Olympics - The Washington Post [131], Following the Olympic Games on September 22nd, Ledecky announced her intention to train with coach Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida. Follow. 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. [109][111] She swam a 1:55.11 in the 200 meter freestyle. Thats amazing.. [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. 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 got her degree instead", "What's Next For Super Olympian Katie Ledecky? In the end, Ledecky was able to hold off a fast charging Pellegrini, eventually winning by a 0.16 margin.
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