Katie Ledecky

The 15-year-old who stunned London

At the 2012 London Olympics, Katie Ledecky was the youngest member of the United States team. She was expected to learn and maybe make the final of the 800 metres freestyle. Instead she took the race out fast, kept going and won gold by more than four seconds, just missing the world record.

Distance swimmers usually win by pacing themselves. Ledecky's secret was that she simply refused to slow down. She swam a powerful, galloping stroke that looked more like a sprinter's, and she held it for 30 lengths of the pool.

Ledecky grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and started swimming at six. Her older brother Michael swam too, and trying to keep up with him helped pull her into the sport.

Rio and a run of records

By the 2016 Rio Olympics she was the most dominant swimmer on the planet. She won the 200, 400 and 800 metres freestyle and a relay gold, set world records in the 400 and 800, and won the 800 by more than 11 seconds. She left Rio as the most decorated female athlete of those Games.

In Tokyo in 2021 she won the first ever women's Olympic 1500 metres freestyle and a fourth 800 metre title would follow three years later.

Paris and the history books

At the 2024 Paris Olympics Ledecky won the 1500 metres again and then the 800 metres for the fourth Games in a row. That made her only the second swimmer, after Michael Phelps, to win the same individual event at four straight Olympics. Her total reached 14 Olympic medals, nine of them gold, the most by an American woman in any sport.

At the World Championships she has won a record 18 individual gold medals, and she still holds the world records in the 800 and 1500 metres freestyle. Over her career she has broken 17 world records.

In Paris she also won a relay silver and a bronze in the 400 metres. Her ninth gold tied gymnast Larisa Latynina's record for the most Olympic golds won by a woman in any sport. At Stanford she had also helped the women's team win NCAA titles in 2017 and 2018.

What young swimmers can learn

Ledecky trains hard, but she also studied psychology at Stanford, and she talks about the joy of the process more than the medals. Her advice to kids is simple: set goals that scare you a little, write them down and do the work every day. That steady, joyful grind built the greatest distance career the pool has ever seen.

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