Katie Ledecky is nothing short of a swimming legend. With several Olympic gold medals and World Championship titles, Katie has sealed her name in swimming history. Since her performance at the London 2012 Olympics as a 15-year-old prodigy, Katie hasn’t looked back. That 15-year-old girl is now a legend not just because of her medal but also because of the way she has redefined swimming.

But despite being one of the most successful swimmers, Katie hasn’t escaped the brutal claws of perception. Over the years, Katie has had to learn to navigate the ambiguity and issues of perception. Her wins, although they put her name among the greatest, with the fame also came the comparison with male swimmers. Katie, however, is not one to be brought down by name-calling. So, how does she handle being called ‘man-like’ in her swimming style?

Katie Ledecky’s battle against patriarchy

When Katie Ledecky made her debut on the world stage, it wasn’t just her speed that caught her attention. It was her stroke. Katie, unlike her competitors, had a unique swimming style. A style that many equated to male swimmers. Instead of being disheartened by the comparisons, she went on to embrace it! “When I was kind of first coming onto the scene, I was swimming with a bit of a different stroke than a lot of the other female distance swimmers were swimming with, and I think that’s really what made me so great—what kind of shot me onto the scene. I was doing something a little different,” recalled Katie in an interview with CBS Mornings.

“And so I hope that in the future and maybe even today, people can say, ‘Oh, she swims like Katie Ledecky,’ or ‘She has Katie’s stroke.’” she added. For Katie Ledecky, the narratives about swimming like men don’t matter. The only thing that does is swim like herself. In Katie’s memoir ‘Just Add Water,’ she in fact talks about her experience of being compared in depth. With her book, she is finally putting words to the story of a champion. Her story is one of challenging stereotypes and shifting the narrative around ‘what a female athlete should be.’

Katie and her stroke are far from done!

After winning 14 Olympic medals, of which nine are gold, one would assume Katie would hit pause. But she is no ordinary swimmer. Katie began swimming inspired by her mother’s love for swimming. But soon she was staking up wins. Katie went on to join Stanford post-schooling, where she won eight NCAA titles and broke 15 NCAA records. But that’s not all! Katie has also proven herself to be a formidable opponent in the world. Katie has 21 World Championships to her name. This makes her the most decorated female swimmer in history.

So what’s next for Katie Ledecky? Katie, after winning two golds at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 800m freestyle and 1500 m freestyle, doesn’t intend to rest. “I would love to swim in LA. I think an Olympics in the United States, it’s a unique opportunity. Not every athlete gets to compete in an Olympics on home soil,” she added. Paris Olympics has ended, but Katie’s journey and strokes aren’t. And the world once again eagerly awaits her next adventure.