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Katie Ledecky is one of the most decorated swimmers in the history of the sport. But has anyone wondered why Katie started swimming in the first place?
The Olympic gold medalist's interest in swimming was influenced by her older brother (Michael Ledecky) and mother. Katie and her brother started swimming at the age of six and nine respectively. Katie's mother, Mary Gen, swam for the University of New Mexico in her youth.
In a video from 2013, Katie visited her childhood pool, the Palisades pool, after a successful World Championships in Barcelona. During the visit, she was interviewed by Susan Kenedy. In the video, Susan asks Katie about the role her family played in her life. Katie replied:
"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 (Katie and her brother) found our love for swimming."
She said that her mother was a swimmer while growing up and she encouraged the family to have fun in the water.
Ledecky further talked about how eager her brother was to join the pool. She and her brother not only joined the pool but later even were part of the same swim team. The Ledecky siblings represented Palisades Porpoises.
Michael Ledecky can be seen in the stands in almost all of Katie's races. He is an avid supporter of his sister. Michael represented Harvard University in swimming. He was the associate sports editor of the Harvard Crimson (A student newspaper of the Harvard University).
Michael had mentioned that his younger sister started defeating him at longer events when she was in high school.
Katie Ledecky's medal winning spree
The American swimmer has won medals in various competitions throughout the world. But she was on a medal-winning spree during the years 2015-2017.
She won 16 medals during that three-year period. The celebrated swimmer started her golden run with the 2015 World Aquatics Championships held in Kazan, Russia. Katie Ledecky won five gold medals in that mega event.
She started the Championships by winning a gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle event with a time of 3:59.13.
She went on to win the 1500 meter freestyle, 200 meter freestyle, 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay, and the 800 meter freestyle event. She ended the 800 meter and 1500 meter freestyle events with a world record time of 8:07.39 and 15:25.48.
Katie Ledecky participated in the Summer Olympics the following year. She went on to win five medals at the Rio Olympics, which included four gold medals and one silver medal.
She won gold medals in the 200 meter freestyle, 400 meter freestyle, 800 meter freestyle and 4x200 meter freestyle relay events.
Katie Ledecky won the silver medal in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. This was a new national record as the team finished the race with a time of 3:31.89.
During the World Championships held in 2017 in Budapest, Ledecky won five gold medals and one silver. She won gold medals in the 400 meter freestyle, 800 meter freestyle, 1500 meter freestyle, 4x100 meter freestyle and 4x200 meter freestyle events.
Those three years were indeed a golden period for the great swimmer as she ascended to the peaks of success in her career.
