- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Top 20 Most Significant Swim Stories Of 2016: #3, Katie -The Long Reach Of Ledecky
- Updated: December 29, 2016
SwimVortex continues a countdown of the most significant swimming stories of Olympic Year 2016.
Our series so far:
4. The Marshall Art Of Peaty Power 5. Murphy’s Law; USA Rules 6: Dolphins Down Under But No Underdogs 7: The colour is Gold: Olympic gold 8: Bob Bowman’s Golden Rules 9: The slow burn of Sarah Sjostrom and coaches 10: Mireia, Fred & The Alchemy Of If To When 11: Gregorio The Great 30-Lapper 12: Putting the Great Back Into Britain 13: Masters, Servants & Subsidies – a model of governance that has had its day 14: The ruinous nature of runes in an Olympic year 15: Custodians in Crisis: FINA – Same As It Ever Was 16: The Australia/ China interface highlights questions of faith & fair dinkum 17: Schools Out; Schooling’s In: aspiration, inspiration and the impact of Michael Phelps 18. The Swimming Selfie 19. The Canadian Comeback 20. On Hosszu Heights
Today, Katie Ledecky, the American teenager with five Olympic gold medals to her name, four of them claimed this year in Rio, world records over 400 and 800m backed up by two other victories, her dominance from the book of swimming timewarps.
No 3 – The Long Reach Of Katie Ledecky
Nothing is inevitable in Olympic waters. If any year proved that, it was this 2016 Olympic season. In the midst of the shockers, surprises and runes in ruins, there was room for the inevitable.
That status is no insult to Katie Ledecky. Sunrise, sunset, the birth of a child, the migration, October geese, breakers that crash on the shore, dolphins dancing at sea … all inevitable; all glorious.
Ledecky ends the 2016 season as one of the most dominant freestyle forces in swimming history:
Rio 2016 Olympic Games: 3:56.46 WR 400m freestyle and 8:04.79 WR 800m freestyle, the bookends to a 1:53.73 triumph in the 200m freestyle and a key role in the USA’s 7:43.03 victory in the 4x200m freestyle. Quadruple gold; the swimmer of the year (unrecognised by FINA simply because the international federation so devoted to global representation rejects the notion that relays and national strengths count in elite waters; simply because a world record counts for less than the mediocrity of constant racing on a lame and liming world cup tour – think again, FINA, you are a global body that has failed to recognise properly one of the most supreme Olympic performances in Olympic history).
Katie Ledecky of the USA by Patrick B. Kraemer
If the gap on the clock and in the Olympic races over 400 and 800m between the American teenager and the best of the rest is gulf-like, then the all-time rankings note the depth of that drop:
2/10 & 4/20 200m free 9/10 & 11/20 400 free (inc. top 6, and textile only, all top 11 and 14/20) 12/12 & 15/20 800 free (inc. top 12, and textile only, all top 15 and 15/20) 5/5 & 6/10 1500m free
One of the astonishing statistics in the book of Ledecky’s career is her place in the league of the unbeaten: right up top. Since she claimed Olympic 800m freestyle gold at 15 in London in 2012, Ledecky has not lost a global distance freestyle race.
Our ‘from the archive’ entries below relates some of the key tales of that supremacy, while this ESPN first-person piece from Michael Phelps explains well the impact of Katie Ledecky.
Phelps writes: “Right now, she’s untouchable. There are swimmers who might push her, but no one is going to beat her. I remember what that feeling was like; it’s a great place to be. You know that if you put in the work, the reward is going to be there at the end. The challenge becomes longevity. How long can you keep it up?
Debbie Meyer – courtesy of International Swimming Hall of Fame and Sacramento Hall of Fame
“When I watch her swim, it’s like an art. It’s beautiful. She maximizes her distance per stroke. It’s just something you don’t see in swimming … mentally, she never lets up.”
He concludes that he can’t wait to see what Ledecky does next in her days beyond Nation’s Capital and coach Bruce Gemmell, who spoke to Karen Crouse of late – a fine New York Times piece worth reading … as is this trials and Rio preview in which Crouse talks to Debbie Meyer, who in 1968 was the first – and until Ledecky the last – woman to claim the 200, 400, 800m Olympic triple.
On Gemmell, worth, too, recalling the performance pathway, the alchemy of gold, in this presentation at ASCA’s World Clinic and an interview with SwimVortex.
From the Archive
The Rio week that was in reverse golden order:
Timewarp 8:04.79 WR Fit To Last; 4th Gold & A Match For Meyer’s Triple
The cool tones of Rihanna suited the mood as Katie Ledecky paraded around the burning deck after a stunning 8:04.79 victory over 800m freestyle:
“Baby, this is what you came for; Lightning strikes every time she moves; And everybody’s watching her..”
Jazz Carlin tracks Katie Ledecky – by Patrick B. Kraemer
They’re not betting on her though. No point: 1/100 for the win. Here at the home 2036 Games in Washington DC … Oh, alright then, Rio 2016 (more on 2040 below) – but Jazz Carlin (GBR), Boglarka Kapas (HUN), Mireia Belmonte (ESP) and the rest must surely have felt the timewarp just as keenly as we watched it. Ledecky, a 19-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, roared into the history books with a world record of 8:04.79.
That was her 13th global standard since the world championships in Barcelona three years ago. If Adam Peaty’s 57.13sec win in the 100m breaststroke is the performance of the meet among me, with a day to go, then Ledecky’s 8:04 is the prize-winner among women.
The metronomic maelstrom was followed home by Britain’s Carlin, her 8:16.17 delivering a second silver behind the American pioneer after second place in the 400m on the first day of action.
With her two silvers, Carlin completed a full set of colours for a British treasury at the past three Games that no nation can match, Rebecca Adlington having celebrated double gold in 2008 and double bronze at a home Games.
The bronze went to European champion Kapas, of Hungary, in 8:16.37, with London 2012 silver medallist behind Ledecky’s 8:14 breakthrough at 15, Mireia Belmonte, of Spain, on 8:18.55.
Ledecky: 4x200m Gold Ledecky: 1:53 200m Gold Ledecky: 3:56 – 400m WR Gold Ledecky: 4x100m free silver
With Carlin taking silver in 8:16.17 a touch ahead of Kapas, Ledecky’s winning margin of 11.38sec was just shy of the biggest gap twixt gold and silver ever. Debbie Meyer (USA) won in 1968 by 11.7sec. And it it to Meyer we turn to find the last woman to win the 200, 400 and 800m titles at a single Games. Ledecky is the second member of that club, one founded in Mexico at the first Games to feature the 200m for women.
The Timewarp
At 100m: faster than the first two of Kornelia Ender’s world records over 100m in 1973 At 200m: faster than Don Schollander’s first world record over 200m free among men in 1962 At 400m: faster than every woman in history over 400m barring 5 – the 2012 400m crown went to Camille Muffat in 4:01.13 and the Olympic silver medallist of 2016, Jazz Carlin, on 4:01.23. At 500m: faster than the first seven of 8 world records that stood to Ragnhild Hveger (DEN) in 1937-40 over 400m – at this point Ledecky is 100m ahead At 800m: faster than the 800m world records held in 1975 and 1976 by Australian Stephen Holland and American Tim Shaw.
The Ledecky world-record splits compared:
57.98; 1:59.42; 3:00.76; 4:01.98; 5:02.94; 6:04.30; 7:05.44; 8:04.79 WR Olympic gold Rio 2016 58.82; 2:00.20; 3:01.80; 4:03.22; 5:04.62; 6:06.00; 7:07.37; 8:06.68 WR Austin, January 2016
Katie Ledecky – by Patrick B. Kraemer
Take stock, for that is what she did and what brought the tears welling:
Day 1: 4x100m freestyle SILVER with teammates in an American record Day 2: 400m freestyle GOLD in 3:56.46 WR Day 3: heats and semis of the 200m free Day 4: 200m freestyle GOLD in 1:53.73 Day 5: 4x200m freestyle GOLD Day 6: heats of the 800m freestyle Day 7: 800m freestyle GOLD in 8:04.79 WR
All week long, this teenager at her second Games has held it together, taken each moment for the moment, each day for the day. Today, she no longer needed to and relief filled every teardrop as the choked her way through the Star Spangled Banner, as she walked round the deck, as she soaked up the appreciation and, it seemed, regarded all things about her as though committing it all to photographic memory.
What a day to tell the kids, the grandkids about one day. Asked about the tears, she said:
“Because it was the last one of the week and I’ve had so much fun with my teammates. When the flag was going up, my family was right there and I was looking at them the whole time so that was a pretty emotional moment.”
Katie Ledecky by PBK
That spilled to coach, too. Ledecky later revealed:
“He was crying too and if you know Bruce, he doesn’t cry very often and I don’t cry very often. It was just a very happy moment and It’s been incredible to share that journey with him.”
Ledecky revealed that Meyer had sent her a message of encouragement today: “She has been texting my Mum a little bit and my Mum always forwards her messages and they mean a lot to me.
There was a video message today before my final. I try not to think about the history much but joining Debbie in that history is incredible and just to be mentioned in the same sentence as Debbie.”
Carlin has been training with the boys at Bath University with Dave McNulty to steel herself for battle with a pioneer heading for a special plinth in the pantheon. Ledecky may still be the standard to beat come the 2040 Games.
By then, at least 12 of the 15 members of the International Olympic Committee’s Board will be past 90 or sailed, while Ledecky may only be half-way to matching the longevity record held since 1968 by Meyer.
Ledecky has now matched Meyer. To get a measure of just how dominant the 19-year-old is in the longest of the three races, we turn to the biggest victories in Olympic history: Meyer was nearly 12sec ahead of next home in 1968. Since then, 2sec has been nearer the average size of win, while Adlington broke the modern mould when she claimed gold by 6sec at Beijing 2008 in a world record of 8mins 14.10.
Ledecky was 10sec inside her London 2012 winning time and won by 11.38sec.
How to race a shark? Says Carlin: “It is tough. She’s set incredible times, so far ahead of the field but we’re all individuals and we bring the best we can, we strive for the best we can be. You never know what can happen on the day. With the Olympics its best to expect the unexpected: you’ve got to be on your game and at the very best you can be. That’s what all the work is for. We’re chasing history.”
Katie Ledecky and Janet Evans – one pace in the pantheon of greats sealed, the other in the making – Photo by Peter Bick
So is Ledecky. Catching it, too. The book of trailblazers recalls Janet Evans, winner of three golds, 400 and 800m freestyle and 400m medley in 1988, her freestyle world records from that year and the one after lasting the best part of 20 years. Then there’s the Gould standard, as Bruce Gemmell, Ledecky’s coach at the National’s Capital Club, calls it.
Shane Gould claimed three golds, a silver and a bronze in 1972, the 15-year-old Australian’s victories in the 200 and 400m freestyle (with medals in the 100 and 800m) and the 200m medley establishing world records. No other woman has ever won five solo medals in the pool at a single Games, while Gould remains the only swimmer ever to hold all freestlye world records from 100 to 1500 and the 200m medley simultaneously.
It is in that kind of rare and exceptional company that Ledecky belongs, a swimmer racing ahead of her time and transcending it in equal measure.
Shane Gould (NT Archive)
Coming into Rio coach Bruce Gemmel told the Chicago Tribune:
“The standard is Shane Gould. And that standard is pretty high.”
Ledecky’s four golds and a silver is among the best five hauls in history, matching precisely the tally of Kornelia Ender (GDR)* in 1976. Praise abounds for Ledecky, Ryan Lochte leading the charge today with:
“She is a phenom. That is all I can say. She is getting so much faster that she is going to beat my times in distance events which is crazy. Any time she gets in that water she is going to do something amazing. She is just so young and she just has so much determination and she is so gifted. And she just loves the sport. You can see it. You can see it when she trains, you can see it every day, her just being in the water. She has a natural feel for it, she is going to keep doing it, she is going to keep breaking records, there is no doubt about that.”
Shirley Babashoff, Kornelia Ender and Enith Brigitha, 1976
Shirley Babashoff, with silver medals in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 freestyle at Olympic level behind GDR swimmers and state plan 14:25 that denied the American rightful recognition is the U.S standard Ledecky is on the trail of, even though comparison is twisted by tortured events.
If Ledecky has now established 13 world records since 201, the depth of her dominance is striking. Over 400m in a textile suit, Ledecky owns 17 of the best 25 efforts ever swum, the best 10; in the 800m you must trawl down to 13th to find Adlington’s world mark, 15th place in textile to find Carlin’s 8:15.54.
Go back a year and we find a swimmer bound for Standford beyond Rio racing to five gold medals at the World Championships in Kazan. The 400m title in the bag, she then set the 1500m world record in heats and the next day faced a schedule most battle-worn of elite sport would balk at: 200m heats, 1500m final and immediately after that the 200m semis for a place in the final.
Before Kazan, Gemmell sat down with Ledecky to talk through possible outcomes and what response she might have to them. He proffered: “You swim the 1500, then the semi of the 200m – and don’t make the final …,”
Stop right there. Gemmell later interpreted the look he got from Ledecky as an ”unspoken ‘what an idiot… that’s not going to happen’,”. She was right. The 1500m: world-record down again and then in the 200m semi, we witnessed an unforgiving pugilist at play.
Last of 8 at the first turn, 7th at the 100m mark, still 6th with just 25m to go. Gemmell tells himself ‘ok, we tried, didn’t work’. You could then almost hear Ledecky screaming as she kicked and clawed her way to the wall for third home and through to the final she would win the next day.
When Gemmell spoke on her preparation at a conference after Kazan, he put up a slide that read: ‘She will do anything to be her best’; ‘She’s as tough as nails’; ‘That’s it – any questions?”
Much merriment. “That’s basically where the rubber leaves the road”, he added before having the courtesy to explain a tough regime of 70km and more in water most week, the dryland training added since London 2012 to pack muscle on bone and grant Ledecky a competitive sprinting speed that leaves her 200m rivals with a dilemma: go out too fast and she will mow them down on the last 25m of the race; go out too slow and she’ll do the same.
Bruce Gemmell
Gemmell lists his world-record holder’s two key strengths as “fiercely competitive and goal orientated”, adding: “She challenges me every day and sometimes gets to the goal before I’m ready to reset”.
Bright, keen on “chess, scrabble and piano” and a ‘street-wise’ swimmer with a metronomic feel for pace, Ledecky, the daughter of David and Mary Gen, who swam at University of New Mexico and was a peer fan of Meyer’s, has followed a path of 4am rises, 5-7am practice in the pool, dryland before lunch, two and a half hours back in the pool late afternoon. In between there’s time to listen to favourites such as The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.
She was six when she followed older brother Michael, now a Harvard undergraduate, onto the summer league swim team, Palisades. Still a teenager as she prepares for the defence of an Olympic crown and chased three others, including the 4x200m freestyle in which the USA could rattle the world record, Ledecky met Meyer, now 63, for the first time this year.
The World Records:
Katie Ledecky by Patrick B. Kraemer
400m 3:58.86 USA Championships Irvine, USA, August 9, 2014 3:58.37 Pan Pacific Championships Gold Coast, Australia August 23, 2014 3:56.46 Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil August 7, 2016 800m 8:13.86 World Championships, Barcelona, August 3, 2013 8:11.00 Woodlands Senior Invitational Meet Shenandoah, USA, June 22, 2014 8:07.39 World Championships, Kazan, August 8, 2015 8:06.68 US Pro Swim, Austin, January 17, 2016 8:04.79 Olympic Games, Rio 2016, August 12, 2016
Kathleen Ledecky by Patrick B. Kraemer
1500m 15:36.53 World Championships, Barcelona, 30 July 2013 15:34.23 Woodlands Senior Invitational Meet Shenandoah, USA, 19 June 2014 15:28.36 Pan Pacific Championships Gold Coast, Australia, 24 August 2014 15:27.71 World Championships, Kazan, 4 August 2015 15:25.48 World Championships, Kazan, 5 August 2015
Ledecky will now head off to Stanford University. She said: “It’s going to be exciting. I am heading home in a couple of days and I’ll have to get all my stuff for my dorm and get everything ready. It’ll be tough leaving home but I’m excited for the next chapter.”
“I’m looking forward to having that college experience on the NCAA team at Stanford and I get to be on the team with Simone Manuel and Leah Smith and …
