The evolution of Katie Ledecky: As the Olympics approach, the American star has come full circle

Follow our Olympic Games coverage in the run-up to the Paris Games.

In April, Bruce Gemmell received a call from someone who had changed his life more than a decade ago. They text regularly, so it wasn’t strange to hear from her. But what she asked of him made him laugh.

Katie Ledecky’s first question was typical Katie: Hey, I’m coming home to Maryland for a few days in May. Can I train with you?

A simple yes from her old swimming coach.

Than: By the way, when I get home, I’m going to the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I hope you are free to come as my guest. I don’t want to impose anything or anything.

“She really said it like that,” Gemmell said, chuckling. “I said, ‘Yes, of course, I’d love to go.'”

Going into the day, he thought the coolest part would be meeting President Joe Biden; Gemmell is from Delaware and his wife once interned for then-Senator Biden. It would be a nice full circle moment.

But Gemmell’s most important takeaway was something else, something far more important to the man who had trained the most dominant swimmer in the history of the sport during her most dominant stretch, beginning after the London Olympics and continuing through the Games in Rio. He started working with her when she was 15, very quiet and even shyer.

And he saw 27-year-old Katie Ledecky working in the room, taking pictures with those who asked and talking to people from all walks of life.

“She was the star of the show as far as I’m concerned — maybe she shared it with Nancy Pelosi,” Gemmell said. “It was definitely a sign of growth from that slightly awkward, socially incompetent 15-year-old who burst onto the scene in London to win an Olympic gold medal.

“To see her go from 15 to 27, having complete control of a room with all these powerful, wealthy politicians and dignitaries, it’s just heartwarming to see that in her. And during that same period, my daughter has gone from being a small child and toddler to someone who now swims around the world and meets Katie Ledecky.”

Gemmell’s daughter, Erin, who was 7 when Ledecky started training with her father, is on the U.S. Olympic team alongside her. The little girl who once dressed up as Katie Ledecky for Halloween qualified to compete with her in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Erin, now 19, punched her ticket by finishing fourth in the 200-meter freestyle in Indianapolis – the top four finishers automatically qualify – and as she looked at the video board to confirm that she had just made her first Olympic team, Ledecky swam across two lanes of traffic to hug her with a big smile.

Now That is a full circle moment.

Katie Ledecky, right, hugs Erin Gemmell after the 200-meter freestyle during the U.S. Olympic Trials. Gemmell has long looked up to Ledecky, who was once coached by Gemmell’s father. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

“She’s been such a big influence,” Erin said. “I don’t think I would really be here if it wasn’t for her. It’s very special to be so close to someone who is so inspiring, to see the daily work he or she puts in. It makes it more feasible in a way, because it’s so close. That makes them seem a lot more human.”

When Erin met Ledecky, she was “terrified” of her. Erin also characterizes herself as “definitely an annoying kid,” so she can’t believe how kind and welcoming Ledecky was to her. And while her older brother, Andrew, has Olympic experience as a swimmer and her father has plenty as a coach, Erin can’t believe how lucky she is to experience Paris and the run alongside Ledecky.

Her father can’t believe his luck either. Erin isn’t one to send photos or updates from training camp — Team USA trained in North Carolina and later in Croatia — but Ledecky will send selfies of the two. Ledecky isn’t just Erin’s role model; she is actually her older sister. She is responsible for parent updates and Erin is responsible for nail painting.

“Katie is one of the top of a very small number of swimmers, probably the best woman ever,” said Bruce Gemmell. “But her qualities as an individual are on a different level. I say that lovingly… with tears in my eyes.”

Ledecky herself has always understood her power and influence. It’s part of the reason she was quiet and shy for so long; that’s who she is, but that’s how she wanted to appear to the world. She is a serious woman with big goals that she has worked towards throughout her career. And she is nowhere near the finish line. She has said she plans to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics at age 31, which would be her fifth Games.

But even with the Paris Games just days away, she knows she is already a veteran of the national team. The women’s side alone features two 17-year-olds (Alex Shackell, Claire Weinstein), an 18-year-old (Katie Grimes, who qualified in the 400 and 1,500 meter freestyle and the open water event) and Erin. The average age of the women’s team is 22.1 years.

Ledecky is also one of the most talented female Olympians, with seven gold medals. In Paris she was able to break the record of gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won nine gold medals for the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. Ledecky is the favorite in the 800 and 1,500 meter freestyle, so to break the record she only needs a win in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay (Australia will be the favorite) or the 400 meter freestyle. (Aussie Ariarne Titmus and Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh are the top contenders).

Katie Ledecky shows off her gold medal in the 800 meter freestyle at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She is favored in that, and again in the 1,500 meters in Paris. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

At Ledecky’s peak in Rio de Janeiro, she won gold in events as short as the 200 free. Recovery also looked different at age 19. But Ledecky doesn’t consider medals that aren’t silver or gold a failure. She finds value in the work itself – and in her own consistency.

“I’m proud of that consistency,” Ledecky said. “I challenge myself to stay consistent. Yeah, I mean, sometimes it can be hard to feel like there’s no breakthrough. But being really consistent is something I’m really happy with. I’ve learned to really enjoy every training day and soak up every moment and I appreciate the fact that I’ve been able to have such a long career, stay injury free, stay reasonably healthy and do this. for so many years.”

She has also embraced her role as the sport’s elder statesman. She’s the one who races out to find the Erins of the world to celebrate with them. She said her favorite message to her first Olympic teammates is the one she received from her first coach, Yuri Suguiyama, prior to London 2012. He told her she deserved to be on that team, that she deserved it and that she belonged. That’s Ledecky’s message to her younger teammates: You belong.

Ledecky remembers what it was like to be young and in love with swimming, without knowing where it would take you. She knows what that surprise feels like; she knows some of her teammates might even be intimidated by standing next to her on a roster. But she keeps perspective. She paints her nails red, white and blue. She sends selfies, commemorating the small and the big moments. That’s how she ended up here, on the eve of even more history.

“I never dreamed of making an Olympics as a young kid,” Ledecky said. “So after London… I wanted to get back to that level to prove that I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. But at the same time, I reminded myself that anything more than that was the icing on the cake, the icing on the cake, whatever. Because again, I never thought I would make it to that one Olympic Games.

“That’s the perspective that I think I’ve been able to maintain, that keeps me focused and makes me enjoy the sport so much, while enjoying the teammates and the people around me.”

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(Top image: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletics; photo of Katie Ledecky: Al Bello / Getty Images)