Manuel: Ledecky “Wasn’t Going to Fall Asleep” Until Hug after Gold

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

Simone Manuel had one last surprise awaiting her after her historic tie for gold with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak in the 100 free last night. Her teammate and roommate Katie Ledecky (who will chase down the 800 free world record tonight) stayed up to see her after the race.

“Katie was actually up when I got back.” Manuel said “It was about 2:30am. I opened the door and she got up and gave me a hug and said ‘I wasn’t going to fall asleep until I gave you a hug’ and that really meant a lot to me. She didn’t have to say much after that because her staying up said enough in itself.”

Manuel says that she didn’t stay up celebrating last night, with the 50 free prelims this morning and the semis tonight.

“Didn’t get much sleep last night,” she said. “No I didn’t celebrate too much. I wanted to do well in the 50 and I had the relay coming up so I just wanted to refocus. I feel a little tired but hopefully I can do better tonight (in the semifinals).”

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BackstrokerLCM
8 years ago

Am I the only one putting my money on Stanford to win NCAAs next year…

Hint of Lime
Reply to  BackstrokerLCM
8 years ago

Eastin, Ledecky, Manuel, Neal, Drabot (just off the top of my head)… Dang. Yep. Pretty much a lock. Still excited to see what Cal (Abbey, Baker, Bilquist, McLaughlin) does as well though!

SwimGeek
Reply to  Hint of Lime
8 years ago

Janet Hu also

Hint of Lime
Reply to  SwimGeek
8 years ago

Oops… Thomas and Osman for Cal, too. Great athletes on both teams 🙂

Marge
8 years ago

I am so proud of her, and her comments following the race. As noted, there were a lot of brave swimmers who came before her. Commings, Ritz, Norment, Sabir, Silva, Tico Clark, others.

Sadly, David Marsh’s interview during Jaeger’s mile shows how clueless and painlessly unaware he is on this topic.

Sean S
Reply to  Marge
8 years ago

What did he say on the matter?

Marge
Reply to  Sean S
8 years ago

“…during the camps she was kind of low key a little bit in the beginning, as the camps went on, we started hearing her more and more in the back of the buses.”

GhostRider
Reply to  Marge
8 years ago

Wow, that is just NOT cool.

Lori Jo
Reply to  Marge
8 years ago

Wow, if Coach Marsh’s comments were perceived as offensive in anyway, the issue does not lie with him. The bus he is referring to is the team bus and guess who sits there? ALL the young newbies most likely. I am so blown away by this comment and perceived insensitivity. Something is terribly wrong when a Coach gets this kind of accusation in support of his athlete.

Tigerswim22
8 years ago

It’s such a joy to read about these kids!
The USA’s team spirit has been really, really terrific!!

Hint of Lime
8 years ago

What a friendship! Such a nice moment to hear about.

About Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht grew up in Kansas and spent most of her childhood trying to convince coaches to let her swim backstroke in freestyle sets. She took her passion to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and swam at NAIA Nationals all four years. After graduating in 2015, she moved to …

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