Katie Ledecky Is Timeless, But Her World Record Further Mythologizes Her Past

Opinions in this article don’t necessarily reflect the views of SwimSwam as a whole.

Who remembers where they were when Katie Ledecky broke the women’s 800-meter freestyle world record at the 2016 Olympic Games?

I, for one, was in middle school when it happened. I had just landed in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport around 2 a.m. local time after a late-night flight and was sitting in the car rental area as my parents tried to figure out transportation for our summer vacation. While waiting, I watched the TV in front of me and there it was—the iconic visual of Ledecky with no one else in her sight, racing nobody but a neon yellow world record line struggling to keep up. In the end, she posted a time of 8:04.79, breaking the 800 free world record for the fifth time in her career.

Ledecky, then a 19-year-old who had more Olympic experience than life experience, couldn’t contain her usually stoic self. She cried in the mixed zone, and then struggled to hold back tears once more for the entire world to see while singing the U.S. national anthem during her medal ceremony. It was an emotional conclusion to one of the most dominant Olympic performances ever, one where she captured three individual golds across the 200, 400 and 800-meter distances, breaking world records in the latter two events.

The Seattle airport visual of Ledecky’s race, as well as her reaction and the general context of her Rio 2016 meet, remain one of my most vivid swimming memories even nine years later. However, when Ledecky’s performances in post-Rio indicated that she was unlikely to reach her 19-year-old heights again, I thought that her last world record from that era would be mythologized. That those memories would be something swim fans thought about when they were nostalgic, remembering what Ledecky was like at her greatest peak.

Never in a million years did I think 8:04.79 would be completely wiped off the record books. And that the fateful August 2016 night in Rio De Janeiro featuring a teenage Ledecky would be eclipsed by a May 2025 afternoon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with the 28-year-old version of her.

Let me be clear: Ledecky’s legacy as an all-time great was cemented regardless of her performance at the Ft. Lauderdale Pro Swim Series last week, where in addition to breaking the 800 free world record (8:04.12), she also posted her second-fastest career marks in the 400 free (3:56.81) and 1500 free (15:24.51). She’s already the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all-time and the most decorated swimmer regardless of gender at the World Championships. She’s one of just two swimmers to four-peat an individual event at the Olympics and has dominated female distance swimming since 2012. Anything she did at this stage of her career would only add to her legacy, not hurt it.

However, I’d be lying if I didn’t think that Ledecky’s dominance was waning. It’s common sense for that to happen after 13 years at the top. Following her 800 free victory at the Paris Olympic games, I wrote about how despite making history, Ledecky looked more vulnerable than ever in her best event with silver and bronze medalists Ariarne Titmus and Paige Madden right on her tail. The sentiment grew this February when Summer McIntosh, who was already the first person to beat Ledecky in an 800 free last year, posted a 8:09.86 time that was faster than Ledecky’s Paris winning time. Just like how Titmus eclipsed Ledecky in the 400 free in 2019, it seemed as if father time would catch up to Ledecky in the 800 free too.

I should have known better though, because the rules of father time don’t apply to someone who spent the latter half of her career trying to prove that she was timeless.

Ledecky’s focus has always been able becoming a better version of herself, though its hard to do that when her best is a world record. Prior to this weekend, she hadn’t gone a best time in her primary events since 2016. But you can’t say she hasn’t tried so many times before.

This is a swimmer who, unhappy with her gold-medal winning times at the 2021 Olympics that were far from her best, moved from Stanford to Florida to voluntarily be challenged by America’s leading male distance swimmers. A swimmer who finds joy in the monotony of staring at a black line for miles on end and became better because of it. A swimmer who wrote her “goal splits” for the 800 free just a few hours before her world-record swim, which added up to 8:04.6. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been near that time since she was 19. It didn’t matter that female distance swimmers tended to “peak” as teenagers. She believed she could do it and she got it.

Now I understand that Ledecky could move mountains if she wanted to.

Like in Rio, Ledecky was emotional in Ft. Lauderdale. She choked up in her interview after the 400 free when she said she didn’t think she had a 3:56 in her. She slammed the water and flexed her arms upon finishing her races. Following her world record, she was congratulated by training partners Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith, part of her group of “Florida Boys” that she’s constantly credited since moving to Gainesville. Members of the U.S. National Team applauded Ledecky on social media, while she herself shouted out Gretchen Walsh, who broke the 100 fly world record on Friday.

Unlike in Rio, Ledecky is no longer a teenager, but a veteran presence whose influence clearly radiates through her Team USA teammates. And that’s beauty of it—that we could see her transform through life at the same time that we did, all while she continued to win in the pool. As I wrote about Ledecky in a 2023 SwimSwam magazine piece, everything about her is so different than it was back then, and yet, somehow everything is also still the same.

Ledecky’s 800 free record-breaking moment will still be memorable to me, even if 8:04.79 has been wiped away. But now, its even more so because she followed it up with something beyond remarkable nine years later, something that puts her career all into one big perspective.

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Believer
22 days ago

If swimming is a measure of dominance and longevity, she’s the 🐐 I suspect she’ll hold WRs for much longer than Phelps. He gets the benefit from gold medals, diversity in strokes, etc… but if swimming was judged historically simply based on getting up and down the pool faster than competition and doing that for a longer period of time, she’s the #1 🐐

Last edited 22 days ago by Believer
Alison England
Reply to  Believer
18 days ago

Last edited 18 days ago by Alison England
Dogstroke
22 days ago

Not aiming to discredit Katie Ledecky’s incredible performance – but what could the impact of the pool being outdoor be on her new WR?

Mclovineta
Reply to  Dogstroke
22 days ago

Troll or rtdd

Dogstroke
Reply to  Mclovineta
22 days ago

If the depth of a pool might have an influence, why not outdoor conditions too? 🙂

lilac
Reply to  Dogstroke
22 days ago

a better vibe

Thomas The Tank Engine
Reply to  Dogstroke
22 days ago

Low quality troll

this guy
Reply to  Dogstroke
22 days ago

She would have broke 8:00 indoors. Sun in her eyes slowed her down. Also, that salty air in Ft. Lauderdale probably didn’t help her.

Dogstroke
Reply to  this guy
22 days ago

Thanks!!

newbie
23 days ago

I always hear the “Florida Boys” thing with respect to Katie, out of curiosity do any other women train with them and Nesty? (Also I googled this, is there a place where pro coaches and their swimmers/teams are documented?)

Admin
Reply to  newbie
23 days ago

There is not a place where it is documented, and it’s actually incredibly hard to get folks to tell you who is training with whom.

newbie
Reply to  Braden Keith
23 days ago

Cool thanks for sharing! I have mainly gotten into swimming via podcasts and so have heard coaches talk about their athletes and of course athletes talk about their teammates. Is it for privacy reasons, or is it viewed as maybe giving competitors a leg up?

Luis
23 days ago

Another Bronze in the men’s for Katie.

Not Him Again
23 days ago

“Timeless”
“Mythologizes”

No worries.

Tani
23 days ago

Thank you Katie for proving age is just a number and to never give up

ZThomas
Reply to  Tani
23 days ago

She’s 28, not 38.

JimSwim22
Reply to  ZThomas
23 days ago

How many Wars set at 28 or later?

swimswum
Reply to  ZThomas
23 days ago

They are referring to age in the context of a youthful sport

ZThomas
Reply to  swimswum
22 days ago

The idea that swimming is only a “young persons” game isn’t true, this idea has stuck around because for the first 80 years of the sport swimmers retired right after college because there was no way to make money.

Generally we should continue improving well into our late 20s. Katie has had health issues on and off since 2019. Hopefully these are behind her and there is more of this to come!

LTZ
23 days ago

Hot take, but Katie would get silver in 400IM in Singapore if she entered

Lurker
Reply to  LTZ
23 days ago

IIRC, it is on the last day of competition and. Katie’s usual lineup will be over by then and theoretically she wouldn’t be risking anything by attempting it. But swimming 400IM after the busy week probably wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
Reply to  LTZ
23 days ago

After swimming 5600 meters, Katie Ledecky is done with the competition on Day 8.

Olivia Smoliga 27.33 AR
Reply to  LTZ
23 days ago

Hmm…not sure she’d beat Weyant/Colbert/Wood/the Aussies but she would definitely final

MDE
Reply to  LTZ
23 days ago

Depends who swims it. She isn’t beating Summer or Kaylee.

Jeff
Reply to  MDE
23 days ago

Kaylee won’t swim it.

Seth
23 days ago

Katie Ledecky has set the bar incredibly high. I remember her swimming either American or world record for a majority of her Olympic or championship swims.

I know that’s impossible to keep doing indefinitely, but she keeps swimming unbelievable times.

Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
Reply to  Seth
23 days ago

Katie Ledecky still has the capability of stacking or restacking the Top 25 All-Time Performances in the W 800 FR and W 1500 FR. It’s going to take at least another year to knock Lotte Friis out the Top 25 All-Time Performances in the W 1500 FR.

About Yanyan Li

Yanyan Li

Although Yanyan wasn't the greatest competitive swimmer, she learned more about the sport of swimming by being her high school swim team's manager for four years. She eventually ventured into the realm of writing and joined SwimSwam in January 2022, where she hopes to contribute to and learn more about …

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