By: Alina Zheng
The hunger to win for 16-time gold medalist Katie Ledecky shone through as she swam at the FINA World Championships on Saturday, June 18, 2022. She could not slow down because tagging right behind her was a 15-year-old Canadian, Summer McIntosh.
Ledecky aimed to improve at Worlds, and she succeeded in doing so. Not only did she improve, but she also beat her personal best time by more than a second, swimming a 400-meter free in 3 minutes and 58.15 seconds.
After beating her personal record, Ledecky told reporters about the immense amount of effort she put in during the swim to win the gold medal. “I wanted to push to the point of pain tonight. It’s the fastest I’ve ever been at Worlds, so I’m really happy with that and really excited about the rest of the [meet]. I’m just always trying to improve … We kind of set out this year [without] setting any time goals, just trying to improve each meet, and so far I’ve done that, so that’s pretty good.”
Katie Ledecky has always had competition. Even though Ariarne Titmus didn’t show up to Worlds, she is still ahead of Ledecky. She broke Katie’s 400m free record from 2017 last month with a time of 3 minutes and 56.40 seconds. Now, with Katie’s recent personal best, Titmus is only less than 2 seconds faster than her.
Another one of Ledecky’s close competitors is McIntosh, who was only one second behind Ledecky. As a result, she won silver. Katie told reporters McIntosh pushed her throughout the race. She stated, “I was a little nervous. [McIntosh] hung in there the whole time, so she definitely pushed me a lot.” Competitors constantly bring out the best in their greatest rivals, and McIntosh did just that.
Ledecky has set records and inspired people from all over the world. She told reporters that she is always filled with motivation, and without it, she would not be where she is today. Even at 25 years old, Ledecky isn’t backing down and is constantly pushing forward.
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/06/18/katie-ledecky-400-free/