Over 10,000 athletes from 206 countries will be competing for 5,000 medals in the upcoming summer Olympics, which begin this Friday in Paris.
Team USA will be composed of 600 individuals, including swimmer Katie Ledecky, a seven-time Gold Medal (plus three silver) winner from Maryland. She’ll be going up against the world’s best for the fourth time in twelve years. Her Olympic career began in London when she was just fifteen years old.
Inspired by her athletic mom and brother, Michael, Katie began swimming competitively at age six, though her foray into the pool bore little resemblance to her determined and disciplined style today. As the story goes, the diminutive athlete stopped several times (even in the middle of the lane) to look around and clear her fogged up goggles.
When it was all over, David Ledecky, Katie’s father, interviewed her with the family camcorder.
“How was the race?” asked the proud dad. “Great!” the little girl replied. Was she just trying to finish? “Just trying hard,” she answered. That would become the basis for her motto for the swimming life from then until now: Great. Hard. Just trying to finish.
As a child, Katie’s homelife was happy, steady and stable. Her mother, Mary, swam for the University of New Mexico. David graduated from Harvard and Yale Law School. Katie’s decision to swim for Stanford was a natural progression in a family that prioritized education.
Asked what drew her to the pool, she said it was her mom’s example and the fun she had swimming with her brother. Katie loves the rhythm and routine of training, swimming 37 miles a week – or 1900 miles a year.
Reserved and humble, Katie Ledecky jokes TMZ considers her a boring subject. She doesn’t drink, smoke or go to many parties. Outside of swimming, her social life revolves around going to church, hanging out with friends over meals and watercolor painting.
Raised in a devout Catholic home, Katie prays daily and often.
“More than anything, praying just helps me to concentrate and let go of things that don’t matter in that moment. It gives me peace knowing I’m in good hands.”
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Ledecky sidestepped various controversies, including the Chinese doping scandal, as well as attempts to redefine Title IX, and the debate whether men should be allowed to compete alongside women.
Of the Chinese swimmers caught doping, which cost Team USA a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, Katie said:
“If you feel like there’s something that doesn’t sit right, if people aren’t competing fairly — if you don’t feel like the leaders of these organizations are necessarily doing what they need to be doing — then I think you’ve got to speak up about it and try to speak with some of the people that can implement change and try to work on things.”
When it came to the issue of men competing in women’s sports, Ledecky was far less bold, clearly not wanting to get embroiled in the ongoing debate.
“I think we’re lucky to live in a country where issues can be debated, whether it’s that issue or any other issue,” she told the Times. “It’s how I feel. I think it’s important to learn perspectives of others and gain an understanding of things and learn more about where everyone comes from.”
To be sure, Katie Ledecky seems far more comfortable wading into the water than into hot button cultural issues.
Her best advice to those in or out of the pool?
“I would encourage you to set really high goals. Set goals that, when you set them, you think they’re impossible. But then every day you can work towards them, and anything is possible, so keep working hard and follow your dreams.”
We’ll be rooting for Katie and all her fellow Team USA competitors in Paris.
Image from Getty.
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