Ledecky honored for her dominance in pool
Swimmer finished second to gymnast Biles last year.
Katie Ledecky got her start in swimming because she just wanted to make friends. Her brother was eager to join a team at a pool near their house and as a 6-year-old, she tagged along.
By summer’s end, the Ledecky siblings had made 100 friends ranging in age from 6 to 18. Some remain good friends with Katie, who went on to become the world’s best swimmer in the post-Michael Phelps era.
She earned five golds and a silver at this year’s world championships in Budapest, maintaining the upward trajectory she first established as a surprise gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
Her dominant performance in Hungary earned Ledecky Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year honors.
In balloting by U.S. editors and news directors announced Tuesday, Ledecky received 351 points, edging Serena Williams with 343. Williams won the Australian Open for her Open era-record 23rd Grand Slam tennis title. Olympic track star Allyson Felix finished third with 248 points.
Last year, Ledecky was second to gymnast Simone Biles in the balloting.
The AP Male Athlete of the Year will be announced today.
Ledecky is the eighth female swimmer to win and the first since Amy Van Dyken in 1996. Among the others is 1969 winner Debbie Meyer. At last year’s Rio de Janeiro Games, Ledecky equaled Meyer’s feat of sweeping the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles in a single Olympics.
“It’s a really great history of women swimmers and freestylers,” Ledecky said of the AP honor roll. “I really look up to a lot of those women.”
She is the first active college athlete to win since UConn basketball player Rebecca Lobo in 1995.
Ledecky, 20, is a sophomore at Stanford, still debating whether to major in psychology or political science, and enjoying life in the dorms, where she lives with five other swimmers.
“Just being in the college environment has kind of added another layer of fun,” she said. “Being with teammates and working toward NCAA championships and having that team goal, that’s another thing that is fun.”
Ledecky heads to Colorado Springs, Colo., for high-altitude training with her Stanford team this week. Her focus is on the collegiate season through the NCAAs in March.
In moving from her home in Bethesda, Md., to attend college in California, Ledecky left behind longtime coach Bruce Gemmell. But like some of those old summer league teammates, Ledecky has stayed in touch. She trains with Gemmell when she returns to visit her family.
She was a star to them in 2012 but a little-known 15-year-old to the rest of the world when she won the 800meter freestyle in American-record time in London.
In 2013, Ledecky won four golds at the worlds in Barcelona, setting two world records. Two years later in Kazan, she swept every freestyle from 200 to 1,500 meters, setting two more world records. Another two world records fell last year in Rio.
“I really pride myself on the consistency I’ve had over the past couple years,” she said. “Just being able to compete at the international level and come away with some gold medals each year.”
Not yet halfway toward the 2020 Tokyo Games, Ledecky already is thinking ahead. She never publicly reveals her target times or placements, but “I set big goals for myself and that’s always what has motivated me.”
Her sunny smile and friendly demeanor belie the competitor, always plotting ahead and moving forward.