Shouts from the Stands: An enthusiastic Katie Ledecky-centric blog from an otherwise unenthusiastic non-blogger

SwimSwam welcomes reader submissions about all topics aquatic, and if it’s well-written and well-thought, we might just post it under our “Shouts from the Stands” series. We don’t necessarily endorse the content of the Shouts from the Stands posts, and the opinions remain those of their authors. If you have thoughts to share, please send them [email protected].

This enthusiastic blog post comes to us from Alexis Puhala. Be warned that there is some strong language inside:

People say that Katie Ledecky shocked the swimming world and pulled an upset in London when she won the 800 freestyle in American record fashion, but I disagree.

I’ve never made a decision about what the best day(s) of my life have been, but the four days I spent in Omaha, Nebraska in 2012 have to be near the top of the non-existent list. I’m a swimmer, man. I was a mediocre swimmer when it actually came to swimming, but I am a top notch swim nerd. I started out as an everything-er as most age groupers do. I developed into a mediocre breaststroker during middle and high school, but when I (and my coaches) realized I could get more points as a distance swimmer, I became a distance swimmer. I learned to love the discipline and hard work that came with being a distance swimmer. I was proud to swim the longest race and the most meters at practice. I made signs to hang in the window at my local YMCA where my club and high school practiced, signs that said “yeah, distance!” and I mentioned it everyday. I looked at those words every damn day. I was a distance swimmer. Not great, but certainly not bad. I swam at the state level in high school and performed pretty well at my D3 college – the first time I swam the mile i broke the school record. Full disclosure, my best times were as follows:

• 200 free – 2:09,
• 500 free – 5:39,
• 1000 free – 11:33,
• 1650 free – 19:28.

And I never broke a minute in the 100. Those are some standard-ass fair-ish times, I know that. I was a good swimmer, but I never considered myself great. I’m realistic. what I was great at was loving the sport, and I’m still really good at that shit.

During those four days in Omaha, I was one of a few thousand people who got to see the greatest – the GREATEST – women’s distance swimmer of all time race. Janet ma’fracking Evans. What a thrill. Janet Evans was 40 years old then and 15 years out of retirement, but since I mentioned greatest moments of my life earlier, I’ll add watching her swim the 800 free at the 2012 US Olympic trials at the top of my greatest moments list. the crowd was on its feet from the moment she walked onto the pool deck until she disappeared after her race – as we should have been. At that point, she was the only woman to simultaneously hold the 400, 800 and 1500 world records. Oh, and her records lasted for a long bleeping time. Her 400 stood for 18 years (18 years! 18!), her 800 and 1500 for 19 years (19!!!!!!!!). and that 800 record was broken during the dreaded “suit era” so it doesn’t really count. I mean, what has Paul Biedermann done since 2009, am I right? Yes, I am. Shortly after Jjanet’s heat was over and we all sat down and I sipped my beer (my beer – as a spectator at a swim meet. It really does not get any better than that), the final heat was introduced. Kate Ziegler was the shoo-in and Haley Anderson would probably make the Olympic team, too, even though she was more of an open water swimmer. Booooooooring, considering what had just happened. Janet Evans had just happened. Swimmers take your mark, blah, blah. Bang. I admit, I didn’t know the name Katie Ledecky in July of 2012, but as soon as I looked at the Jumbotron to find out who was taking out this race so fast, her name become ingrained in my head. Her first 50 meters knocked me off my feet! – exclamation point. “This girl was ballsy” is what I thought. She took it out so fast that nobody could catch her. That was her strategy and I loved it. To me, as a distance swimmer at heart – and distance swimming goes deeper than the pool , if you know what I mean – that was the greatest race I’d ever witnessed. I didn’t think she was going to fade because she swam with such confidence. You can not – you can NOT go out that fast in the final of the most competitive swim meet on the planet if you can’t hold on. You can’t. She held on and she made the 2012 Olympic team and then she swam the same race in London. And there she beat the hometown favorite in the hometown favorite’s best event (in fact, the hometown favorite Rebecca Adlington was the current world record holder*). Ledecky broke Janet Evans’ American record which in my mind was Janet Evans’ world record. Katie Ledecky introduced herself to the swimming world and people were surprised to meet her? Nah. Not me, man. I saw it in Omaha. And she’s still doing it! And she’s doing it faster and faster and faster. She now is the second woman to simultaneously hold the 400, 800 and 1500 world records. I told you earlier who the only other woman was to achieve that feat.

In 2015 (I know, there hasn’t been a lot of it yet), she’s ranked fifth in the world in the 100 freestyle and first in the 200 freestyle [Editor’s Note: those rankings reflect Ledecky’s status at the time this story was submitted; they have since changed.]. She is WORLD class in the 100-1500 freestyles. I don’t have enough of your attention span right now to explain how impressive and unique that is. I read an article today that suggested katie ledecky could be the first woman in Olympic history to win five gold medals at a single Games and as i’m drawing near the end of my thought, I’m starting to believe she will be. A top 6 finish at Olympic trials in the 100 free to get on a relay (likely) and a top two finish in the 200, 400 and 800 (extremely likely) will give her the chance in Rio. The 400 and 800 she will most likely win at the 2016 Olympics. She’ll be on the 4×200 relay which will most likely win at the 2016 Olympics. The challenges, in my opinion, will be winning the 200 free and 4×100 free relay. Gold medals in those events are neither impossible nor a stretch, but they will be hard. These in between years from London to Rio are shaping up to be a real changing of the guard. There will be a few new Katie Ledeckys come spring 2016 and there will be the old Katie Ledecky still swimming fast come spring 2016 and it’s going to be awesome.

I remember sitting on the floor in my living room (that’s where i liked to sit) in 2000, eating popcorn and drinking orange juice (that’s what i liked to eat and drink) watching the Olympic trials on tape delay on tv and thinking, “I hope I’m still this excited about swimming when I’m older.” Well, Alexis, you still are. Fifteen years later and you’re so excited about swimming that you’re writing this blog post in the off season because there’s a distance swimmer in the United States who is now arguably the greatest female freestyler of all time. She’s grant hackett, except she’s a kid and she’s an American. and she’s a woman. I know it might be weird to say this about a 17 year old, but she is a badass. And I’m so excited about her because I identify with how she loves to swim. She can’t stop. She doesn’t take breaks. Her work ethic is tireless and I can relate. ONLY in the sense that I loved to swim so much that it hurt me. Physically and mentally. I couldn’t stop. And as i admitted before, I wasn’t a great swimmer, but I put my heart and soul into it and that’s what MAKES me a swimmer. A distance swimmer like her. So you get it, Katie. Get those five golds in Rio and secure your spot as the greatest of all time. You give distance swimming the recognition it deserves and you deserve the recognition you get. That’s all. That’s my spiel and I’m going to stop now before it gets weird(er).