Image via Complex Original
Katie Ledecky has accomplished more in her 19 years on Earth than many people do in their entire lives.
On top of winning her second ever gold medal yesterday, the Washington D.C.-born swimmer has already set 12 swimming world records, won USA Swimming Athlete of the Year three times, donned the cover of Sports Illustrated, and been named to the Time’s 100 Most Influential People list. And she hasn’t even started college yet.
Ledecky, who before now wasn’t much of a household name, is poised to emerge from the Rio as one of the most talked about and admired stars in years. She is clearly the best women’s swimmer in America and is perhaps the best overall athlete representing Team USA. With the number of events still to come, Ledecky has the potential to put on a spectacle like few other Olympians before her.
Before the precocious swimmer adds any more gold medals to her collection, check out these 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Katie Ledecky.
One swimming executive thinks we’re in the “Ledecky Era” of the sport.
“We’re fortunate to be living in this age in our sport, the Ledecky era,” said Chuck Wielgus, executive director of USA Swimming. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen anybody like Katie before. And I think in the future we’re going to look back, and the sport’s history will be divided into pre-Katie and post-Katie. She’ll be this iconic figure by which all future distance and middle-distance swimmers will be measured.”
Ledecky broke her first world record at the age of 16.
Going into the Olympics, Ledecky had set 11 world records. Today, having broken the world record for the 400m freestyle on Sunday, her total is up to 12. This total is bound to rise as she enters her peak physical shape.
She has been named USA Swimming’s Athlete of the Year three years running.
You know you’ve made it as a swimmer when you’ve accomplished something that Michael Phelps hasn’t even done yet. Ledecky won her third consecutive Athlete of the Year award in 2015, joining Ryan Lochte and Mike Barrowman as the only other swimmers to win the award three consecutive years.
Her uncle is New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky.
Jon Ledecky bought the Islanders with Scott Malkin in 2014 for a reported $485 million. He made his fortune in the office supplies business, and has previously owned stakes in the Capitals and Wizards. Jon said he will be in Rio this summer to watch his niece swim.
Ledecky is passing up on millions of dollars this summer.
Ledecky plans on attending and swimming at Stanford this fall; she took a year off to train for the Olympics. Because she intends to swim in college, NCAA rules forbid her from making any paid endorsements or appearances. So she will not be making any money in these games.
Her mom was a championship swimmer in college.
Ledecky’s mother, Mary Gen Ledecky, swam under 1964 Olympic gold medalist Cathy Ferguson at College of the Great Falls in the 1970’s. She qualified for nationals three times during her college swimming careers. Swimming flows through the Ledecky’s blood.
She was USA’s youngest Olympian in 2012.
Ledecky was thrust onto the national scene in 2012 as she won the women’s 800m freestyle gold medal. At 15 she was Team USA’s youngest Olympian in 2012—and one of its most successful.
She recently got to chill with Pop and the Spurs.
If you want to learn about winning, there are few better people to learn from than Gregg Popovich. Ledecky, along with the rest of USA’s swimmers, recently met up with NBA legends Gregg Popovich and Tony Parker, resulting in a photo-op that went viral on Twitter.
Also, Pop in a Napoleon Dynamite shirt? Legendary.
She was the youngest person featured on last year's Time 100.
Most 18-year-olds have trouble influencing their parents to let them take the car out. Ledecky probably does not have these issues, because according to Time Magazine, she’s one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Ledecky was the youngest person on the Time 100 list last year at 18 years old. After this year’s Olympics, it’s possible she could make that list again as a college freshman. Not a bad way to pad your resume.
She was on “The Today Show” as an infant.
Between her SI cover and televised swimming events, Ledecky does a lot of media these days. Fortunately she was lucky enough to get a head start in front of the camera some time ago, appearing on The Today Show as a one year old in 1998.
