Day in the Life:
Katie Ledecky, Olympic Swimmer
Katie Ledecky is a 5X Olympic gold medalist, 15X world champion, and multiple world-record holder for Team USA women’s swimming (Team USA, n.d.). When she was just a freshman in high school, she qualified for the 2012 London Games by achieving an Olympic-trials record in the 800-meter freestyle. In doing so, she became the youngest member of the U.S. swimming team (Augustyn, 2021). What goes into her daily 24 hours to keep her so far ahead of the pack?
Below is an inside glimpse into Katie’s average training day when she was heading into Rio 2016, followed by a glimpse of what her pandemic training has been like.
Video Credit: The Washington Post
Katie Ledecky’s Daily Routine (Rio 2016):
- 4:05AM – Wake Up
- 4:15AM – Snack of toast w/ peanut butter, banana or apple
- 5AM – Swim practice, 6,000 to 6,500 yards
- 7AM – Breakfast of bacon, egg, cheese and tomato omelet with potatoes; or bagel with cream cheese and egg; or yogurt and fruit with berries… preferred beverage is chocolate milk.
- 8AM – Nap
- 10AM – Snack of yogurt, honey and granola with mixed berries, plus either an apple or pear
- 11AM – Dryland training
- 12:30PM – Lunch of pasta with chicken or Caesar salad with chicken and an avocado
- 1PM – Watch TV, read or take another nap
- 2:45PM – Snack of fruit and sometimes more toast w/ peanut butter
- 3:30PM – Swim practice, 7,000 to 8,000 yards
- 6PM – Snack of yogurt; key lime flavor is a recent favorite. Drinks another chocolate milk.
- 6:30PM – Dinner of carbs, such as pasta, white rice, or arugula with white beans, tomato, garlic and chicken or steak. Ledecky does not eat candy, ice cream, cake or soda. Although she did have a tiny piece of her mom’s birthday cake in April.
- 7PM – Read, watch TV…”She has become a news nerd, especially the primaries, caucuses and debates,” her father Dave told ESPN.
- 9:15PM – Bedtime (Hersh, 2016)
Katie Ledecky loves her chocolate milk! Photo credit: @katieledecky
Gearing Up for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
Due to the interference of COVID-19, Ledecky’s strokes to Tokyo have been unconventional. Yet, in spite of the adversity she has faced since spring of last year due to the pandemic, Ledecky has found a way to keep swimming through it all.
In March 2020, the Stanford University pool Ledecky typically trained at underwent a 3 month-long shutdown due to COVID. Yet, she was able to still maintain a training regimen due to the kindness of a local family, who offered their backyard pool to her and her teammate Simone Manuel for swim practice. The pool happened to have two lanes and be 25 yards long, which was a blessing, given the circumstances (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
And amid the dark clouds of the pandemic, another bright spot appeared along with this pool. The family who leant Ledecky their pool has grandchildren that would come over and enthusiastically root for Ledecky and Manuel–in a socially distanced manner–as these two swimming phenoms glided through the water with grace and speed (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
Ledecky asserts that she’ll keep the encouragement of those kids in her heart and mind as she’s about to jump into the water at the Tokyo Olympics: “I think I’ll have that cheering of those kids kind of echoing in my ears — something that I want to remember back on when I’m getting on the blocks in Tokyo” (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
Additionally, Ledecky maintains that her pool situation at the start of the pandemic was just another opportunity to pivot, adapt, and grow. She notes that all Olympians, by virtue of being in the Olympics, have to deal with different forms of adversity at different times (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
Ledecky demonstrates her swimming prowess. Photo credit: @katieledecky
Now a College Graduate
Another opportunity for growth that the pandemic presented Ledecky with was completing her college degree! Ledecky earned her psychology degree from Stanford due to the Olympics being pushed back a year. This shows that when life gives Ledecky turbulent waters, she’s able to wade through them in style (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
Ledecky back in June 2017, at the end of her freshman year at Stanford University! Photo credit: @katieledecky
Keeping It All Into Perspective
Ultimately, no matter what the outcome is of her races at the Olympics, Katie longs to “represent Team USA well, both in and out of the water.” And she never forgets her “Why”, declaring, “I’m still in the sport because I’m having fun and I’m still making a lot of friends” (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).
Ledecky always remembers WHY she does what she does, and has fun doing it! Photo credit: @katieledecky
References
Augustyn, A. (2021). Katie Ledecky. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Katie-Ledecky
CNN. (2021, Mar. 10). Katie Ledecky on training in a backyard pool for Tokyo 2020 [Video]. https://www.cnn.com/videos/sports/2021/03/10/katie-ledecky-tokyo-2020-olympics-postponement-training-pandemic-swimming-spt-intl.cnn
Hersh, P. (2016, Aug. 3). Katie Ledecky: Road to Rio training regimen. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/story/_/id/17213524/2016-rio-olympics-katie-ledecky-training-regimen
Team USA. (n.d.). Katie Ledecky. https://www.teamusa.org/usa-swimming/athletes/katie-ledecky
Wire, C. & Ramsay, G. (2021, Mar. 10). Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky on training in a backyard pool and her aspirations for Tokyo 2020. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/sport/katie-ledecky-olympics-tokyo-2020-spt-intl/index.html