OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST KATIE LEDECKY TALKS ABOUT HER THOUGHTS WHILE SWIMMING
At just 28 years old, Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky is already one of the greatest athletes of all time. With 14 Olympic medals, including nine golds, she is tied for the most decorated female swimmer in history and the most decorated American woman in Olympic history. With such a well-established legacy, people have questioned how she stays focused and grounded. The swimmer shared her thoughts in the pool during a Stanford University commencement speech.
Ledecky, a 2020 Stanford alumnus, addressed graduates during the 134th commencement ceremony. There, she said that one of the most frequent questions she receives is regarding her thoughts while swimming. Naturally, as the best athlete in the world, Ledecky keeps track of the laps, but she also disclosed that her favourite races are those in which she thinks about the people she loves.
“I think of my Grandpa Jerry immigrating from Czechoslovakia to study at an American university,” Ledecky confesses in her speech. “I think about my Grandpa Hagan serving as a Navy surgeon in World War II.”
The Olympian remembers that she had two medal races at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, separated by almost 70 minutes. Even though it was her 36th international event, she felt uneasy throughout the first one, the 200-meter freestyle, and finished in fifth place. She had less than an hour to prepare for her second final, the more difficult 1,500-meter freestyle, and was filled with uncertainty. She says, "I kept telling myself to focus, to brush things off, to relax." "I began to think of my grandparents at that point."
Ledecky then envisioned both her grandmothers watching her on TV back home. “I pictured them cheering for me, and [I decided] if I were to dwell on anything in those difficult moments, it was going to be the toughness and warmth of my grandmothers.”
The swimmer says that for nearly every stroke of that 30-lap race, she repeated their names in her head. “Grandma Hagan, Grandma Berta,” she says as she mimics her arm motions. “And it worked. I swam with a sense of strength and freedom. I feel like my grandparents lifted me up to gold that day.”
Consequently, the swimmer from Washington, D.C., secured her initial gold medal at Tokyo 2020, finishing in 15:37.34, narrowly missing the Olympic record she established in the preliminary heats. She would go on to win another gold medal, this time in the 800-meter freestyle. At the upcoming Olympics, Paris 2024, she accomplished the same achievement, securing two gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle and the 1,500-meter freestyle.
Based on her experience, Ledecky offered graduates one last tip: stay close to your loved ones. The main point is: you can't go far by yourself. "Keep being around individuals who will push you, back you up, and bring you joy,” she suggests. “Ensure you dedicate time to those who are important to you.”
With three years left until Los Angeles 2028, Ledecky remains highly competitive. On May 3, she set a new world record in the women's 800-meter freestyle at the TYR Swim Pro Series in Florida
