At the 2019 FINA World Championships, after losing the 400 free for the first time since 2013, Katie Ledecky announced she had a stomach virus, keeping her out of multiple races. Later in the meet, Ledecky bounced back winning the 800 free in a come-from-behind victory.
Ledecky swam fast over the 2019 season on the run-up to World Championships in South Korea, and she expects to swim faster over the 2020 season on the run-up to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska next June.
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I rate her victory in the 800 over any race where she destroyed the competition. It took heart, resilience, craftiness, all the qualities of a champion.
Cool interview. Interesting to hear her perspective and backstory.
I do wish the interviewer had asked about Ledecky’s snub of Titmus after the 400. Woulda been a harsh question. But a valid question.
Are you sure it was a “snub”? The TV cameras can’t show us everything from all angles at every instant. And perhaps Katie felt like puking at that very moment. I’ve never seen her behave in a non-sportsmanlike way.
I was on deck. Ledecky immediately shouted “congratulations” to Titmus in the pool. It was clear Ledecky was concerned about either (i) not throwing up on Titmus with worldwide viewing audience (ii) getting Titmus sick by breathing on her or (iii) worried about passing out/drowning in the aftermath of her body locking up on her in the final lap due to illness. It may have been all three. Definitely was not a snub or bad sportsmanship.
Cool thanks for the insights. I hadn’t heard these details.
Funny how people on these boards punish you with downvotes for asking a question. Swimswam itself carried a story mentioning the Ledecky / Titmus exchange as a “snub”.
But yeah, that’s why I suggested the question – to get more info and to understand the scenario better.
Did we? I don’t remember us using the word “snub” anywhere and I just googled and couldn’t find it, but open to correction if I’ve missed it.
Good catch Braden. I tried to look it up as well, but I must be mistaking the article for the comments section. I saw several examples in the comments section where people discussed the “snub” (and highly upvoted commenters who pointed it out, and called Ledecky classless, etc.)
But yes, big difference between comments section and actual articles 🙂
Kl was only .7 of a second from her 400 seasons best . In the last few years she has not beaten her SB at the major comp anyhow . Her other swims were close to SBs too .
Really the only loss thing affected was her 1500 .which was already 25 secs off her pb . It was a minor stomach virus but not a debilitating one .needing ust 2 1/2 days out of the water . It was not the Bubonic Plague.
I hope you get a chance to reflect on this comment after your next bout with a “minor stomach virus.”
p.s. Plague is bacterial and treatable with antibiotics.
Titmus will only get better.
Ledecky’s counting on it!
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This is way off-topic but I thought it was newsworthy (sadly) for the SwimSwam community. Former Stanford breaststroker and 1968 Olympic bronze medalist Brian Job found dead in motel room in Palo Alto last week. Perhaps Braden could make it a separate story. Here’s an article from the San Jose Mercury:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/08/24/palo-alto-the-tragic-demise-of-an-olympic-swimmer-turned-outdoor-citizen/amp/
Yeah. I read that report over the weekend. Not a fun read. Mental health is devastating, and it sounds like he slipped through the cracks.
That is really sad….. Thank you for the link.
Wasn’t he the first man under a minute SCY?
No. Chet “the Jet” Jastremski from Yale
Chet Jastremski swam for Doc Councilman at Indiana, not Yale. He revolutionized breaststroke.
Might be right about that (except he was IU, not Yale). Job was definitely first high schooler to break a minute.
“Hopefully Tokyo”
Lol
I officiate at high school dual meets where they typically allow non-scoring exhibition swims for whoever wants to swim. This past year we had meets where we had a single heat of the girls 100 free, but multiple heats of the 400 free. One of the coaches told me it was “the Katie Ledecky effect”. She’s definitely made distance freestyle more popular.
That’s really cool. I wonder if her dominance has had something of a deterrent effect on senior US swimmers?
There is no 400 free in high school dual meets (or SCY, or high school swimming altogether) unless you mean SCM or you’re not from the US
High school meets are usually swum in whatever course is available
We have one local pool used for high school meets that’s 25M.
Meant 500 free. My bad. Still in LCM mode. High school SCY season starts this week here in FL.
550 free if you’re Brooke Ford.
The HS meets are in meters?
I had a few…
….love hearing this!
The 200 is going to be a fight no matter how you look at it. Between Pelligrini and Titmus, and any number of folks who may show up during an Olympic year, I feel like Katie’s 200 free is similar to the 200 for Phelps in 2004 where a gold medal is an outside chance, and she might find herself just fighting for a medal. But I think if she trains for the 200 the way she’ll need to to have a shot at the gold, then she’s likely to medal and going to sweep the 400-1500, which is still an impressive feat.
I feel she needs , as she well mentioned , to work on the 200 speed ……. and be back in 1.54 mid for OT .
big vote up…..