Bethesda's Katie Ledecky Heads To Olympic Swim Trials

BETHESDA, MD — Five-time Olympic gold medalist and Bethesda native Katie Ledecky will compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials for Swimming on Friday to earn a spot at the Summer Olympics 2021 in Tokyo. She's looking to add five medals to her Olympic tally and make history as the woman athlete with the most medals in the history of the games.

The 24-year-old graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in 2015. She's competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, earning six medals — five gold and one silver. Team USA said last month that Ledecky is looking to qualify in the 200, 400, 800, and 1,500-meter freestyles, as well as the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay.

Ledecky swam as a student at Stanford University and was an eight-time NCAA individual champion during her time there. She's won 15 gold and and three silver World Championship medals.

The Olympics were set to take place in 2020, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. They will begin this year on July 23. Before then, the games had only been canceled for World Wars.

If Ledecky ups her Olympic gold medal count to ten (and 11 medals total, including one silver), she would become the winningest female in Olympic history, moving ahead of Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina, Team USA said.

In the 1,500 meter event, Ledecky has broken the world record five times and held the world-leading time every year since 2013 (except 2016 when she did not contest the 1,500), Team USA said. She set the current world record of 15:20.48 in May 2018, and swam a world-leading 15:40.55 in California in April 2021.

“I want to kick off the U.S. on a good note for [the 1,500],” Ledecky said last month. “There have been so many great female distance swimmers who have come through the U.S. that haven't had that opportunity [to swim the 1,500 at the Olympic Games]. So I want to take advantage of that opportunity and really get us started on a great note there.”

Ledecky majored in psychology at Stanford with a minor in political science. The postponement of the games last summer freed her up to take a full load of classes and complete her degree in the fall, USA Today reported.

At the height of the pandemic shutdown in California she tried to swim in backyard pools but they were too small. In June 2020 Stanford reopened its outdoor pool so Ledecky and other competitors could resume their training.