Sports Illustrated Names Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Maggie Steffens Among Fittest 50 Athletes

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Sports Illustrated has released its top 50 fittest athletes of 2022, which includes Olympic gold medal swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky as well as gold medal water polo player Maggie Steffens.

The three athletes represent the aquatic community as Sports Illustrated showcased athletes from many sports around the world.

“There’s no denying it: all athletes’ bodies are built to meet the unique demands of each sport and withstand the rigors of the game,” SI wrote. “At the elite level, physical fitness and conditioning are ever-present. But what happens when you level the playing field and compare athletes of all shapes and sizes in disparate sports? Each year Sports Illustrated accepts the challenge and ranks the best-conditioned athletes in the world, consulting the expertise of trainers, exercise physiologists and performance experts with experience across the college, pro and Olympic levels of sports.”

According to the publication, the panel evaluates athletes on the following criteria: performances over the last 12+ months; demands and risks of their respective sports; durability; training regimens; and other physical benchmarks including power, speed, strength, agility, endurance, flexibility and more.

December 18, 2017; Joint Forces Training Center, Los Alamitos, California, USA; Waterpolo: RockTape; Maggie Steffens Photo credit: Catharyn Hayne- KLC fotos

Maggie Steffens. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

Sports Illustrated‘s take on Maggie Steffens:

“The 28-year-old Steffens made her presence known early at the 2020 Olympics by scoring her first goal of the Tokyo Games just 21 seconds into Team USA’s opening preliminary match. She’d go on to net 13 more goals, which brought her Olympic career total to 56 and shattered the previous record of 47. As team captain, the Stanford graduate led the Americans to their third consecutive gold medal. Outside of the pool, she lifts weights and mixes in cardio exercises that help build endurance, speed and explosive power.”

Katie Ledekcy; Photo Courtesy: TYR

Sports Illustrated‘s take on Katie Ledecky:

“Ledecky can swim faster and farther than you. And she can do it while balancing a glass of chocolate milk on her head. She established that fact once again at the 2020 Olympics, sans milk, when she won gold in the inaugural women’s 1500-meter freestyle race with a time of 15:37.34, which was four seconds faster than silver medalist Erica Sullivan. The six-foot distance swimmer also picked up another gold and two silvers, bringing her total career haul to seven. When she isn’t doing laps in the pool, Ledecky hits the weight room for strength training and dynamic exercises like squat jumps.”

Ledecky won gold in the inaugural women’s 1500-metre freestyle race at the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 15:37:34. The six-foot-tall long-distance swimmer also picked up another gold and two silvers in Tokyo, bringing her total Olympic career total to seven.

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Ledecky cited nutrition and what she puts into her body as a key element to staying strong. According to a FINA interview, “Ledecky typically swims ’10 times a week.’ This is broken down into two swim sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and one swim session on Wednesday and Saturday. After every pool session, she’ll do a quick warm-down in the pool to recover from pushing her body to the max. Then she takes Sundays off completely to rest. When she isn’t doing laps in the pool, Ledecky loves to hit the weights room for strength training and dynamic exercises like squat jumps on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to keep her body strong.”

Sports Illustrated‘s take on Caeleb Dressel:

“At the Tokyo Olympics, Dressel proved himself at the peak of his physical powers, though by the end of the Games, his neck might have been a bit sore from the weight of his five gold medals. The 25-year-old became the first swimmer in the history of the modern Olympic Games to win gold in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly at the same Olympics, and he also won as part of the 4X100 freestyle and medley relay teams. At 6’3″ and 194 pounds, he tailors his workout routines to develop “explosive strength off the block,” and it worked: He left Japan with Olympic records in all three individual events and the medley relay.”

Dressel earned five gold medals by the end of the Games. One of the fastest men to ever hit the water, 25-year-old Dressel became the first swimmer in the history of the modern Olympics to win gold in the 50 Freestyle, the 100 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly at the very same Games. He was also a part of the 4×100 freestyle and medley relay winning teams.

In a recent Men’s Health interview Dressel said: “Everything I do in the gym translates to being a better swimmer. My lifting routine is designed to develop and maintain exceptional strength off the block, so it mainly includes cleans, power cleans, jerks and snatches. I’ll usually end my power days with some box jumps and medicine ball throws to help build up my burst as well.”

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