preview

Katie Ledecky : An Amazing Swimmer Essay

Decent Essays

Katie Ledecky is an amazing swimmer and it is not because of genetics. Most people assume that Katie has an abnormal Vo2 max but this is not the case. According to the article, “She has to have enormous lung capacity,” mused Jack Roach, USA Swimming’s consultant for athlete and coach relations. “But we don’t measure that. You don’t really need to.” This statement tells readers that for the events that Katie is competing in she does not need a large lung capacity. Katie is not even a freakish athlete outside of the pool, it a well know joke by her supporting cast that she has no characteristics of an elite athlete outside of the people. Katie supporting cast often joke around by calling her the best all-around athlete. Katie has the heart of a champion and the mental strength of no other female athlete in her field, often being compared to male.

Katie perfection of unique mechanics is not common for female swimmers; the gallop is a technique that requires a lot of core strength that most female swimmer does not have. Katie first was introduced to this stroke from the age range of 10-15, her coach watch many videos on the well decorated Olympian Michael Phelps. Katie coach tells us, “it was more or less accidental: She was doing a drill where she was asked to reduce her number of strokes per lap and had to lunge — or gallop — to reach the wall. He said, Ooh, that stroke looked really well; Let’s try to hold that for a whole 125. But it was no accident, according to

Get Access