Katie Ledecky earns AP's Female Athlete of the Year. This is the Olympian's second time winning the accolade. She was chosen by a panel of 40 sports writers and editors from news outlets across the country.
But the real enjoyment for Ledecky comes when no one is cheering her on, when it’s just her and her coaches and teammates, putting in the long, lonely hours of training.
“I might be one of the few swimmers who loves the training even more than the racing,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong: I love the racing, too. But I truly enjoy going to practice every day. I’m excited when I go to bed for practice in the morning.”by her lofty standings, Ledecky left coach Greg Meehan and the Stanford University team where she had competed and trained while earning a psychology degree.Her top priority was getting closer to her family in the Washington, D.C., area.
The shift to Nesty and a program where she usually trains with the men seems to have pushed the 25-year-old Ledecky to even greater heights.“She needs to understand that once you get older, the body is different,” the coach said. “I have to tell her, ‘Katie, you’ve got understand you’re not 18 anymore.’ The body will get tired. When it gets tired, it’s OK to throttle back a little bit.
“This group is a very competitive group, a fun group and, at times, pretty chatty,” he said. “It seems to have made her pretty chatty. You’ve gotta be with our group. I think our group has kind of made her come out of her shell a little bit.”“Guys are guys. They love to trash-talk with each other,” she said with a smile. “I’ll poke a little fun at the some of the guys, give them a little push here and there. I’m definitely pretty comfortable in this environment now.
“There were some things I would’ve liked to be better in Tokyo,” she conceded. “But also, I was really stretching myself, I was swimming 1,500 at the Olympics for the first time, while also swimming the 200 free. The events were even on the same day, which is something I don’t think anyone else was doing. It was a challenge I had set my mind to for many years, something I wanted to take on. I don’t regret taking that on.
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