Amidst Michael Phelps’ Katie Ledecky Stand, Swimming G.O.A.T. Has Another Plan for Paris Olympics

It’s no secret that Katie Ledecky continues to make big waves in the swimming world. She first stepped into the spotlight during the 2012 London Games as a 15-year-old. Now, 12 years later, she is back for her fourth Olympic berth as the most decorated female swimmer of all time. Her journey to the top has been extraordinary. But as she contests in the French capital, the legendary swimmer Michael Phelps has deemed her worthy of etching her name in the history books yet again.

The swimmer was poised as the favorite going into the Summer Games. However, her quest to win yet another Olympic gold was squashed by the reigning 400m champion, Ariarne Titmus. Even though she couldn’t produce a better result in one of her first races in the French capital, she will now get the chance to redeem herself in her signature event, the 800m freestyle. What’s even better is that the 28-year-old Olympic medalist believes she can and will swim her way to the top.

Will Katie Ledecky claim a historic win at the Paris Olympics?

At the 2012 London Olympics, the then-teen catapulted herself to the 800m freestyle finals with an impressive time of 8:23:84 in the heats. Much to the world’s surprise, Ledecky claimed her first Olympic gold in 8:14:63, which happened to be the second-fastest time. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she had shattered the American record of 8:16:22 set by Janet Evans in 1989. But this was just the beginning of what was to come. The swimmer currently holds a world record in the same event and is the only swimmer to win five consecutive world titles in an individual event. How crazy is that?

We now understand why Michael Phelps dubbed it her ‘bread and butter’ event. The 27-year-old could potentially create history if she dominates the Olympic pool in the 800m event.

Along with being the reigning Olympic champion, she has achieved a 3-peat sweep by clinching gold at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Games. She now has the chance to accomplish an incredibly rare feat in the sport by becoming the first female swimmer to achieve the 4-peat in a swimming event. This has only been done once before, by the most decorated swimmer of all time in the men’s 200 IM from the 2004 to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

However, when Ledecky was made aware of the possibility, her response might pleasantly surprise you. “I was like, wait, I would? These things kind of go in one ear and out the other. I had thought that there were maybe a few others, but I think I’m getting it confused with the three-peat in Tokyo with a few others.” The athlete has always maintained a simple mindset towards all her competitions: to relentlessly pursue her own goals.

With a smile on her face, she continues. “These things, I hear them, I see them — but I don’t really focus on them. I just stay focused on my own goals, my goals are very time focused and splits focused and technically focused.” Even though she understands the prominence of this feat, her approach remains unchanged. “The rest is what it is and you guys (journalists) can write about it, and you guys can focus on it, but personally I’m just going to stay focused on my own goals.” Maybe this is why the swimmer is a cut above the rest.

The Phelps connection

The 7-time Olympic gold medalist was looking to add another one to her tally in the 400m freestyle event. She had last faced Ariarne Titmus at the 2020 Tokyo Games 400m final. The swimmer had to settle for second place back then. But Ledecky was hoping to turn things around this time. During the 400m heats in the French capital, the 27-year-old overtook the Aussie and finished in 4:02:19 seconds. However, she couldn’t pass the Titmus test in the finals. The Aussie effortlessly defended her title with a gob-smacking time of 3:57:49 seconds. On the other hand, Ledecky completed the podium in 4:00:86 seconds.

After being handed a defeat yet again, the first being in Tokyo, she now had to face the nation’s wrath. However, the 5x Olympian reinstated her G.O.A.T. status, saying, “She’s setting records every single day. Moving forward, she’s coming into her bread and butter events. The events she has dominated her whole career. This race will be something she will put behind her, and really start to generate that focus towards the upcoming events.” Surely she hasn’t achieved the status of being the most decorated female swimmer just like that.

Being called something like the ‘Greatest Female Swimmer’ by the legend further cements her status as one of the swimming greats. But did you know that Katie Ledecky has already shattered one of his records? Michael Phelps has a whopping 15 world swimming titles to his name. However, at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships in Japan, Katie Ledecky went on to claim her fifth 800m freestyle title. “Michael [Phelps] is someone that I’ve known for a long time now and to break that record was cool.” In doing so, she effortlessly grabbed her 16th individual title, surpassing the swimming legend’s record for the most golds.

Even though she couldn’t produce gold in one of the most anticipated races in the French capital, Katie Ledecky will forever be considered the G.O.A.T. in the swimming world. As fans look forward to yet another incredible performance by the swimmer, she will be preparing to achieve a historic 4-peat at the Paris La Defense Arena. Will she be able to do it?