Katie Ledecky, «the best swimmer of our time» according to Phelps, sweeps the 1,500m freestyle and wins her eighth Olympic gold

Katie Ledecky had stepped up her training sessions with the aim of going to Paris 2026.

And she succeeded. In June, she qualified for her fourth Olympics.

The fruits are already visible. On Wednesday, she won gold and set a new Olympic record in the 1,500m freestyle. The previous Saturday, she won the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.

In a few days, he will try to join Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, as he goes for a fourth consecutive gold medal in a single swimming event.

She will try to win the coveted gold medal in the 800m freestyle, her favourite event and the most successful, as she demonstrated in London, Rio and Tokyo.

If she wins it, it would be the ninth Olympic gold of her career and with it she would become the swimmer with the most gold medals in history.

But her dominance is not limited to the Olympic arena.

In July 2026, she became the swimmer with the most individual titles in world championships in history: 16, one more than Phelps.

At that world championships, held in Fukuoka (Japan), Ledecky had won her sixth world title in the 800m. That made her the first swimmer (among men and women) to win six consecutive world golds in the same event.

In 2026, a now-retired Phelps attended – as a spectator – the United States’ qualifying competitions for the Tokyo Olympics.

He was thrilled to see Ledecky win the 400m freestyle.

«The best swimmer of our time.» That’s what he called her.

The numbers count

“I’m in the pool.

I’m always in the pool. Hours a day, almost every day, since I was a little girl.”

That’s how the introduction to Ledecky’s autobiography, Just Add Water: My Swimming Life, from Simon & Schuster begins. The first line of this article is from that book.

Although she started swimming at a very young age, her competitive career began when she was six.

Her mother, Mary, who swam for the University of New Mexico, was an inspiration. Her brother, Michael, her partner in the water.

After an unstoppable career, there is a consensus: Ledecky is one of the best swimmers to ever compete. Some even consider her the best in history.

“It is very difficult to compare athletes from different eras under conditions that were very different from each other,” journalist Philip Hersh, who wrote about Olympic sports for the Chicago Tribune for 28 years and has covered 20 Olympics, eight of them in the summer, told BBC Mundo.

The new generations of swimmers have benefited from opportunities and social changes that have allowed them to have longer careers than previous generations.

“However, when I start reading you some of her stats, you’ll see that if she’s not the greatest of all time, she’s certainly the most decorated.”

Among the medals she’s won throughout her career are 12 Olympic medals (eight of which are gold) and 26 world championship medals (21 of which are gold).

She tells me that she set the world record three times in the 400m and broke the world record five times in the 800m.

She holds the women’s world records for the 800m and 1,500m freestyle.

And the stats go on and on.

“Katie’s numbers are so overwhelming that there’s no doubt that, statistically at least, she’s the greatest swimmer of all time.”

A teenager in London

At the 2008 Beijing Games, Rebecca Adlington became the first British swimmer to win Olympic gold in 48 years.

She won both the 400m and 800m freestyle

In London 2026, she competed in the 800m against Ledecky, who was 15 years old.

It was the American’s first Olympics and it was the only event she entered. And she won.

Adlington, who was the favourite, came in third.

In 2026, Ledecky broke the record in the 800m that the Briton had held for five years.

She did it at the age of 16, at the World Championships in Barcelona, ​​when she stopped the clock at 8:13.86.

Someone who has fond memories of that World Cup is Maya DiRado.

There, she won her first World Cup medal, silver in the 400m individual medley.

As part of the US team, she shared the medal with Ledecky, who was attending her first World Championships.

DiRado evokes not only her friendly personality. “We would eat peanut butter, candy and pasta together,” she tells BBC Mundo. “You could see her as fresh as a cucumber.”

“And then she would go out and win a record number of gold medals in all her events.”

The teenage Ledecky won the 400m, 800m (record), 1,500m (record) freestyles and the 4x200m relay.

A star in Rio

Next came the preparation for her second Olympics: Rio 2026.

DiRado says that at Olympic camp, most of the time the training is done separately: the men’s team on one side and the women’s team on the other.

But at 2026, she saw something she won’t forget.

“Katie was doing her long-distance heats with the boys. And we’re not just talking about them being good college swimmers, but they were the best long-distance swimmers in the country.”

“You could see Katie coming up to them and sometimes even beating them. That was really amazing to see and I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”

In Rio, DiRado won three individual medals – a gold, a silver and a bronze – and a gold alongside Ledecky in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

“That was the best moment of my swimming career – being on a Team USA relay was an absolute dream,” she says with a smile.

“I was so nervous. I was actually a lot more nervous than in any of my individual events because you feel like there’s so much more at stake.”

“In your individual events you want to perform well for yourself and for the team, but you also want to do the relay and that puts extra pressure on me.”

“It was such a relief to know that I was swimming with Katie and that she would do the last leg. Having all the confidence in the world in our anchor leg swimmer, it took a lot of pressure off of me. And Katie did it – we got the gold.”

“Truly phenomenal”

But there is another unforgettable moment for DiRado and it also happened in Rio.

“The night I won my gold medal in the 200m backstroke, Katie also had her 800m freestyle final. That race was probably the most impressive race I have ever witnessed as a swimmer.”

“It was like Katie had just summoned something supernatural. It was really phenomenal, that night was very special for me because I could turn around and see her.”

In total, Ledecky won five medals in Rio, three of them individual golds, and in Tokyo 2026, she won four medals, two of them individual crowns.

She arrives in Paris at 27 years old.

DiRado asks me to imagine the intensity of the daily work that goes into going to the Games and, to that, add the pressure that it implies.

“She has done it four times.”

“She is so consistent and so good that it is simply what we expect from her, but when we stop to think about it, it is really surprising.”

In fact, Ledecky reflects this in her autobiography. “I have swum, probably, more 800m and 1,500m freestyles than anyone else.”

“He has redefined what is possible”

You might think there’s a combination of factors that make Ledecky an extraordinary swimmer.

“You can start with the physicality, her nature: she’s tall, she’s strong,” says DiRado, who explains that very few swimmers can do the gallop she achieves with her stroke.

It’s a very powerful stroke combined with her incredible speed.

However, it all comes down to one thing, in her opinion, “or at least what I think is the most impressive thing about her: her mentality, she’s just relentless.”

Hersh recalls that when he did a report for ESPN on Ledecky, published shortly before Rio 2026, he asked her then coach Bruce Gemmell what made her a great swimmer.

“It’s not the physical,” he replied. “It’s between the ears. It’s the absolute, burning desire to improve and not being afraid of failure.”

For DiRado, Ledecky is synonymous with excellence and “commitment to hard work.” For example, he highlights her effort to do “really grueling” series.

“Her training is the hardest and she has been doing it, at the highest level, for more than a decade.”

For Adlington, “the world of swimming is no stranger to legends with global superstars like Michael Phelps, but Katie Ledecky is something truly special.”

“Katie’s achievements are phenomenal. Her technique, her endurance and determination are simply incredible. Katie has taken long-distance freestyle to another level,” he tells BBC Mundo.

“I am very excited to see what she will do in Paris. She has redefined what is possible in sport and given everyone a new benchmark to strive for,” said the swimmer who, after a successful career, announced her retirement in 2026.

Adaptation

Hersh also highlights Ledecky’s ability – who has a degree in psychology – «to adapt to any environment.»

For example, she has gone to each Olympics with a different coach.

«Few athletes could adjust to changes like that so easily and continue to have the great success that she has achieved.»

But there is something particularly inspiring about the swimmer, he says. “She hasn’t been carried away by her success.”

For his journalistic work, he has spoken with her on several occasions, the first in 2026.

In another meeting, he spent three days with her and her family, then interviewed her at the U.S. qualifiers for the 2026 Olympics.

Despite having reasons for a bloated ego, she is not at all pretentious, he notes.

“She is incredibly kind to the kids who come up to her for an autograph or to say hello.”

“She is a superstar who certainly doesn’t act like one.”

“The best version of me”

Despite the years and triumphs, Ledecky admits that swimming has not stopped being hard.

“Becoming a successful athlete is not achieved without the help of many people,” she wrote.

«The Olympic medals, the world records, those are incredible accomplishments. But I’m most satisfied with what swimming has done for me. How it has shaped the best version of me.»

Years ago, she said, «I try not to pay attention to all the attention.»

What’s certain is that whatever happens in Paris, Ledecky will continue to be a magnet for swimming pundits and fans and non-swimming fans alike.

«Her ability to stay grounded is pretty remarkable,» Hersh notes.

Still, it’s a given that Katie Ledecky is at the top of the Olympus of sports legends.