Katie Ledecky Discusses Epic Double At World Championships (SW Radio)

Katie Ledecky
Photo Courtesy: Maria Dobysheva

Coverage of the 2015 FINA World Championships is sponsored by Wylas Timing. Visit our coverage page for more.

Katie Ledecky’s performance on the third day of the FINA world championships will be debated heavily as one of the greatest single-day performances in swimming history. She broke her world record in the 1500 free, then returned to qualify third in the 200 free semifinals about 30 minutes later.

In a press conference following a busy night that also included an award ceremony and a lengthy period of recovery in and out of the pool, Ledecky talked about the experience of both races, the brief recovery time between swims and the mental attitude of racing 1700 meters in one night.

Listen To Press Conference On Swimming World Radio (includes Russian translations)

Highlight quotes from press conference:

“Today was a really tough day for me. I knew that I was prepared for it. Yes, it did hurt a lot, but I got the job done. It feels really, really good right now.”

“It was a little tougher than I was hoping it would be (doing the double). The 200 field was really strong. There were some really fast times posted in the first heat, and my heat was really fast. I was getting pretty nervous halfway through that race. I just knew I had to put my head down and get to that wall.”

“I really have to thank our team managers: Andy, Margo, Scott. They all really planned my night out for me, and I didn’t have to worry about anything. I was able to get right into the warm-down pool. I probably did about 700 (meters), rough estimate. I got out of the pool, put my parka on and got ready for the 200.”

“My legs kind of felt like jello (at the start of the 200 free), and I was surprised because I barely kicked in the mile.”

“I always finish my races pretty hard, but what was getting me through the last couple hundreds of that mile was I was just told myself to stick with the same pacing I was going, don’t pick it up, stay with the same rhythm, and I’m just going to go hard at the end.”

“I wasn’t afraid to fail tonight, and just didn’t feel like I had nothing to lose. I felt like I could race hard. I flipped seventh at the 150 (in the 200 free semifinal), and Bruce was saying that’s why we do a lot of 25 in practice at the end of hard sets. I always try to out-touch the guys next to me. I just knew I could get my hand to the wall before a couple of girls in that heat. That’s what motivated me the last 35 meters of that 200 free.”

“During the 1500 today, at one point I did think about both of my Grandpas. Both passed away, but I know my Grandmas are watching the world championships very closely back home, and I just thought about my Grandpas at one point in the race and dug deep.”

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Leone Wood
8 years ago

brilliant

Leone Wood
8 years ago

brilliant

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