Katie Ledecky

Katie Ledecky began swimming at age six after following her older brother, Michael, into summer swim programs. Her mother, Mary Gen Ledecky, had swum competitively for the University of New Mexico and encouraged both children in the sport. Ledecky grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, and trained with the Nation's Capital Swim Club.

Ledecky graduated from Stone Ridge in 2015 and attended Stanford University. She majored in psychology and minored in political science while continuing her competitive career. At Stanford, she won eight individual NCAA championships, helped the women's swimming team win consecutive NCAA team titles in 2017 and 2018, and set multiple NCAA records.

Ledecky qualified for the 2012 London Olympics after setting a trials record in the 800-meter freestyle. At 15, she was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team. She won the 800-meter freestyle gold medal and set an American record in the event, establishing herself internationally.

At the 2013 world championships, Ledecky won gold medals in the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,500-meter freestyle events and the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay. She also set her first world records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle. In 2014, she became the first female swimmer since Janet Evans to hold the world records in the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,500-meter freestyle events simultaneously.

Ledecky won four gold medals and one silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. She took individual titles in the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter freestyle events, won gold with the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay team, and earned silver in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay. She also set world records in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races, finishing the 800-meter final more than 11 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 after a postponement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ledecky won the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events. The 1,500-meter race was the first women's 1,500-meter freestyle event held at the Olympics. She also won silver medals in the 400-meter freestyle and the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ledecky won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, then defended her 1,500-meter title and won the 800-meter freestyle for the fourth consecutive Olympics. She also earned silver in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay. Her fourth 800-meter gold made her the first female swimmer to win the same individual swimming event at four consecutive Olympic Games and gave her a ninth Olympic gold medal.

Ledecky has been especially dominant in long-distance freestyle. She won five gold medals at the 2015 world championships and five more at the 2017 championships. At the 2022 world championships, she won the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,500-meter freestyle events and the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay. In 2023, she won the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events and earned silver medals in the 400-meter freestyle and 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay.

She holds the world records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events. She has never lost an 800-meter or 1,500-meter freestyle race at the Olympic Games or world championships, and she became the record holder for the most individual gold medals at the swimming world championships after surpassing Michael Phelps. Her achievements also include multiple national and world records, as well as four individual Olympic freestyle titles from 200 meters through 1,500 meters.

Ledecky has been named Swimming World magazine's Female World Swimmer of the Year a record five times and received the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award in 2017 and 2022. She won the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete in 2022 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden in 2024.

In 2024, Ledecky published Just Add Water: My Swimming Life, a memoir based partly on her journal entries. The book covers her development as a swimmer and her experiences competing at the highest level, including her account of living with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.