Tragic Details About Olympic Swimmer Katie Ledecky
In 2012, Katie Ledecky competed in her first Olympics at just 15 years old, killing it in the 800m freestyle and bringing home the gold for Team USA. At the time of writing, she currently boasts 14 Olympic medals, eight of which are gold, effectively making history as the first American woman to have won that many. "I know that there are only a handful of people that have won that many golds, or that number of medals," Ledecky acknowledged after bagging her 14th (via TIME). "I never pictured myself being in this position."
The celebrated athlete is keenly aware that the world of sports wasn't always as inclusive as it is now, and women often weren't presented with the same opportunities as men. As a result, competing on the world stage isn't something she takes for granted. Ledecky admitted that women do still face tons of challenges, however, elaborating that media coverage and the perception of women's sports still require major improvement.
As Ledecky argued to Self, "The fact that it's not always just about the accomplishments, but that you have to do something or be something more than just great to get attention or praise or notoriety [is problematic,]" pointing out that women almost have to overachieve to get the same recognition as men. She might be an Olympic champion, but the road was paved with hardship, and Ledecky has had to overcome plenty of challenges.
Her aunt nearly drowned when she was a kid
You might not know this about Katie Ledecky, but the reason that she's a world-class swimmer dates back to a family mishap that occurred years before the Olympian was even born. Katie's mother, Mary Gen Ledecky, and her family were vacationing at the Glacier National Park in Montana when Mary Gen's sister, then just four years old, lost her footing on a dock and landed in the water. She couldn't swim and the trip almost took a fatal turn as a result. Her father therefore immediately decreed that all seven of his children would learn to swim, and Mary Gen turned out to be pretty good at it.
She made the University of New Mexico's swim team and later instilled a love of swimming in her own kids. "My mom was a swimmer growing up. So, she always liked basketball and let's have fun in the water and I think that's where we found our love for swimming," Ledekcy shared during an interview with the Montgomery County Council. While she enjoyed other sports, Katie eventually quit to focus on her swimming after she broke her arm during a basketball game. "That's kind of when I started thinking, 'I really like swimming. I'm going to not risk playing other sports," she informed ESPN.
She broke down in tears during the 2020 Olympics
Katie Ledecky has undergone a stunning transformation since she first competed in the London Olympics, and even though she is now considered one of the best swimmers in the world, with more Olympic gold medals than even the legendary Michael Phelps, she's suffered some setbacks throughout her career, most notably during the 2020 Olympics. Everyone was shocked when Ledecky came fifth in the 200-meter freestyle, which she aced during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Even more confoundingly, just two days prior, the pro athlete had managed to bag a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle.
To say her sudden lapse was unexpected would be an understatement. Her coach, Greg Meehan, allowed Ledecky a moment to process what had happened before sending her to the warm-down pool to prepare her for the 1500-meter race — which she won. It wasn't her best time, though to us normal folks it was still superhuman, but after her big comeback, Ledecky burst into tears and later divulged that, sometimes, the pressure gets to her. "I'm always striving to be better than I've ever been, and it's not easy when your times are world records," she said in a press conference after her win (via Sports Illustrated).
Katie Ledecky feels a lot of pressure to be perfect
When you've set world swimming records, the pressure increases every time you get in the pool. Katie Ledecky knows this all too well. When she attended her first Olympic Games as a teenager, she didn't feel any pressure. No one was paying any attention, no one expected her to accomplish anything significant — she was just a kid that nobody had even heard of before. "Being an underdog gave me space to concentrate on my own game. Invisibility would be my superpower," Ledecky wrote in her memoir, "Just Add Water: My Swimming Life." "[I felt] zero pressure. No eyes were on me. No one was sweating me to deliver anything but my best effort. Not even my folks."
Nowadays, things are vastly different, and as a result the celebrated athlete strongly identifies with gymnast Simone Biles, who famously withdrew from the 2020 Olympics because of her ongoing mental health issues. "I would never want to speak for Simone and say that I know what she's feeling, because none of us do. But I understand it," Ledecky shared in a press conference (via Sports Illustrated). "I'm really tough on myself," she added. "But that's the attitude I have — I literally approach each race with a belief that I can swim a best time, and that's pretty darned tough." She did, however, concede that this tough mindset is what helps her win time and time again.
She suffers with POTS
Several Olympic athletes have faced major health battles over the years, and Katie Ledecky is no exception. In "Just Add Water: My Swimming Life," Ledecky opened up about being diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). If you've never heard of it before, you're definitely not alone. Even though POTS is a common condition affecting up to 3 million people in the U.S. alone, it can take years to get a proper diagnosis, according to the Cleveland Clinic. POTS is an autonomic nervous system disorder that affects blood pressure and heart rate. Ledecky detailed it as: "I pool blood in the vessels below my heart when I stand. My body then releases extra norepinephrine or epinephrine, which adds additional stressors on my heart, making it beat faster. Which, in turn, brings on dizziness, fainting, and exhaustion."
As Ledecky explained to Self, these symptoms unsurprisingly had an adverse impact on her training schedule as she was preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympics. "It was a new thing that I had to acknowledge and be aware of, something that was always in the back of my mind," she noted. The pro swimmer became more mindful of her diet and lifestyle since her diagnosis, too, keeping a closer eye on her salt and water intake, while compression gear became a must. As Ledecky reasoned, "I wanted to share how that's impacted me at different points and how I've been able to push through that and take control of that part and live a healthy lifestyle."
Some of her family members died in the Holocaust
When you ask Katie Ledecky where her unwavering resolve comes from, she'll tell you all about her grandmother, Berta, who survived the Holocaust. When Ledecky was just 10, her grandparents took her on a hugely significant trip to a Jewish cemetery to show the pro athlete the graves of her ancestors who passed away during that dark time. This left a major imprint on Ledecky, who still to this day remembers it and channels the strength her grandmother displayed during the Holocaust to get her through the toughest of times.
For instance, when the accomplished swimmer came fifth in the 200-meter freestyle during the 2020 Olympics, she had her grandmother and her three other grandparents on her mind, all of whom she admires a great deal. Ledecky focused on their resolve while getting ready for her next race. Looking back, it's no surprise she emerged the winner in the 1500-meter race that followed. "[They are] four of the toughest people I know," Ledecky later intoned at a press conference (via Sports Illustrated). That trait seems to run in the family.