The ultimate test of Katie Ledecky‘s decision to move from her collegiate training home at Stanford to the University of Florida will come in about a month’s time in Paris, but the early returns from the Olympic Trials were encouraging, to say the least.
Racing mostly unchallenged by her domestic counterparts, Ledecky won the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free at last week’s Olympic Trials. While none were lifetime bests, and only two (the 400 and 1500) were even season bests, the results were still very encouraging for the 27-year-old.
At an age well-past where most elite female distance swimmers have historically seen improvements in their times, Ledecky is, at least quad-over-quad, ahead of schedule.
Time Change, Indy to Omaha
| Indy 2024 | Omaha 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 |
She had big drops in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles relative to the 2021 Trials, and was just-off her time in the 200 free.
After 2021, she went on to win the 800 free, 1500 free, and finish 2nd in the 800 free relay and 400 free.
Ledecky is at an interesting point in her career. There is fairly-universal agreement that she is the best distance swimmer in history. There is diminishing debate about her status as the best female swimmer in history. And there’s probably not enough runway for her to catch Michael Phelps as the best swimmer in history.
As Caeleb Dressel addressed in an interview over the weekend, it’s unlikely that Ledecky will ever go a best time ever again, at least in a primary event.
But there are still wins that she can take. There is history to be made: she can join Phelps as the second-ever swimmer to ever win the same event at four straight Olympic Games.
But there are also personal victories to be won. Or even victories, period. She lost a distance race, while healthy, for the first time in a long time earlier this year. So now she has races, battles, and so far she’s rising to the occasion.
The energy around Ledecky in Indianapolis was palpable. Her name was repeated by almost every young swimmer in attendance (including other qualifiers) as their favorite swimmer. She was the biggest force of the biggest swim meet that we’ve ever seen. She is in her golden era, with nothing to prove, but still everything to offer when it comes to inspiration.
Ledecky says that she’s swimming on to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, so this is not necessarily her swan song. But it is a new chapter for her, and while it has not been as seamless as prior portions of the story, a month from the big show, she is sitting atop a wave,
