The ultimate test for Katie Ledecky‘S The decision to leave her college training ground Stanford for the University of Florida will be made in Paris in about a month, but the early results of the Olympic qualification have been encouraging, to say the least.
Ledecky won the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle at last week’s Olympic qualifying heats, despite her hometown rivals barely outpacing her. Although none of these performances were personal bests and only two (the 400m and 1500m) were season bests, the results were still very encouraging for the 27-year-old.
Although most elite female long-distance swimmers are at an age where they have been able to improve their times in the past, Ledecky is ahead of schedule, at least compared to the quadruple swim.
Time change, Indy to Omaha
| Indy2024 | 2021 | ||
| 200 free | 1:55.22 | 1:55.11 | +.11 |
| 400 free | 3:58.35 | 4:01.27 | -2.92 |
| 800 free | 8:14.12 | 8:14.62 | -,50 |
| 1500 free | 15:37.35 | 15:40.50 | -3.15 |
Compared to the 2021 Trials, she had big steps back in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyles and fell just short of her time in the 200 freestyle.
After 2021, she won the 800 m freestyle, the 1500 m freestyle and finished second in the 800 m freestyle relay and the 400 m freestyle.
Ledecky is at an interesting point in her career. There is widespread agreement that she is the best long-distance swimmer in history. There is less and less debate about her status as the best swimmer in history. And she probably no longer has enough runway to overtake Michael Phelps as the best swimmer in history.
As Caeleb Dressel noted in an interview over the weekend, it is unlikely that Ledecky will ever set a personal best again, at least not in a primary.
But she can still win. She has the chance to make history: she can join Phelps as the second swimmer ever to win the same discipline at four consecutive Olympic Games.
But there are also personal victories to be won. Or even victories, Period. Earlier this year she lost a long distance race for the first time in a long time, despite being healthy. So now she’s had races, battles and so far she’s risen to the challenge.
The energy around Ledecky in Indianapolis was palpable. Almost every young swimmer in attendance (including other qualifiers) mentioned her name as their favorite swimmer. She was the biggest force in the greatest swimming meet we have ever seen. She is in her golden era, has nothing left to prove, but still has a lot to offer when it comes to inspiration.
Ledecky says she’s swimming on to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, so this isn’t necessarily her swan song. But it’s a new chapter for her, and while it hasn’t gone as smoothly as earlier parts of the story, she’s riding a wave a month before the big show,
