Katie Ledecky makes waves in the pool
At 15 years and four months, American swimmer Katie Ledecky created a huge surprise by winning a gold medal in the women’s 800m freestyle at the 2014 Olympic Games in London, but she has since proved the success was no fluke, setting several world records in the pool.
Upsetting the odds
When she lined up for the Olympic women’s 800m freestyle final at London’s Aquatics Centre on 3 August 2012, Katie Ledecky (USA), the youngest American athlete to take part in that year’s Games, was visibly delighted to have advanced so far in her first major international competition.
The 15-year-old had earned her place at London 2012 thanks to an unexpected triumph in the 800m at the United States Olympic trials a month earlier, achieving goal she had set herself back in September 2011, following a series of successes at junior level.
“I sat down with [my coach] and we were talking about Olympic trials, and he said, ‘Now, what would be the ultimate goal of that?’” she recalled. “And he sort of forced me to say, ‘Make the Olympic Games,’ and ‘OK, we’re just going to focus on that.’”
Astonishing victory in London
After watching compatriot Missy Franklin break the world record in the 200m backstroke and receiving a high-five from newly crowned 100m butterfly champion Michael Phelps, Ledecky focused on her gameplan, which involved setting a strong pace from the outset.
“I knew I was ahead right from the start,” she explained. “You can see underwater when you flip. I just kept the same rhythm, stuck to my plan, counted the laps and got through it. Around the 600-metre point, I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m ahead in the Olympics.’ I didn’t dismiss the thought that someone could come and catch me until the 799-metre point, when I touched the wall.
”The young American, who finished ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) and defending Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington (GBR) by four and six seconds respectively, setting a new US record of 8:14.63 in the process, initially struggled to understand the magnitude of her amazing achievement. “It was such an ‘oh-my-gosh’ feeling. What is this? This isn’t right. This isn’t real. It was just so surreal, being able to do that on that stage, in that environment,” she added.
On top of the world
Using the Olympic Games as a springboard, Ledecky subsequently blew her competition out of the water at the 2013 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona (ESP), landing freestyle gold medals in the 400m (3:59.82, a national record), 800m (8:13.86, a world record), 1,500m (15:36.53, another world record) and 4x200m relay, alongside Franklin, Shannon Vreeland and Karlee Bispo (7.45.14).
Continuing in the same vein, a 17-year-old Ledecky broke her own 800m and 1,500m world records at an invitational event in Texas (USA) in June 2014. Two months later, she confirmed her global domination by winning all five of her chosen events at the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast (AUS), while not only setting an impressive world record in the 400m (3:58.63) but also stunningly lowering her own 1,500m world record again to 15:28.36.
Magnificent seven in Rio?
The Maryland-based swimmer began 2015 by recording some eye-catching times in the 100m freestyle, increasing speculation that she may attempt that distance at the US Olympic trials for Rio 2016. If she does so, she could find herself competing for as many as seven gold medals in Brazil: the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m individual freestyle, and the 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays. It would be a feat never before achieved by a woman at the Games.
