|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
USA SWIMMING 2018 PHILLIPS 66 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPSJuly 24, 2018Katie LedeckyIrvine, California THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Katie Ledecky. Katie, obviously this has been a big year of change for you wrapping up your collegiate career and transitioning to life as a professional. Maybe walk us through the last couple of months and how that transition has gone. KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, it's been a great couple of months. Obviously made the transition to becoming a professional swimmer in April, I guess it was, or March, end of March. And I've had really great training since then, which I think showed over the last couple of months, just breaking the world record in April -- May, I guess. Time is flying by. And just throughout the Pro Swim Series stops, just putting up some good swims and taking confidence away from that and confidence from my training and trying to lead into these end-of-summer meets with a lot of good racing ahead of me and a lot of things that I can be really excited about. Q. The last time you were here, you set a world record. I think it was your only world record at a Nationals, if I'm remembering correctly. When you come back and you remember that race, your first one in the 400 free, what kind of memories does that bring back, and how much does that fire you up to take maybe another shot at that or at least have some good races over these next few days? KATIE LEDECKY: I definitely walked in here yesterday and brought me back to some good memories. I remember walking out for that race and just hearing the music playing as we were walking out was -- I remember it clearly. It was Timber, and we were walking out. And I was, like, it's going down. And I think everyone kind of felt like I could do it that night. And I think that was because I had a really good prelim swim where I was 3:59 and was kind of right on it. But I just walked out for that race and was really confident and felt good about it. And just had a good swim. And broke that record and as you said it was the first time I broke that one. So that was a memorable one, not to say all of them aren't. But that was especially memorable and that was my first meet at this pool. So this is only my second meet here. But I do like this pool. And I'm hoping that I can put up some good swims this week. We'll see. But it's just all about racing and putting together some good race plans and executing them well. Q. Today is two years until Tokyo. Given everything you've been through in the last two years, all these life-changing events, were you surprised that you were able to go through all that and still break one of your world records given how fast your times already are to come -- given everything the last two years? KATIE LEDECKY: I wouldn't say surprised. I think obviously being in my position and having broken 13 world records before the 14th one, I think it gets harder. It's not any easier being me and having the times that I have to go best times. But the work I've put in over the past year, especially since March, April, has been really, really good, some of my best training I've ever put in. That gives me a lot of confidence. And I'm someone that really takes confidence from practice and translates it into my racing. So that's something that I know that if I can train that way still, I can race that way still and can still push my boundaries and see what I can do when I step up on the blocks. It's never easy and it's something that I know that it only gets harder as you get faster, to go faster and to break those times or beat those times. And it can be little things that can make a difference, up or down, on the times. So it's all about trying to find those small details and improve on those. Q. I'm curious, I think of Missy Franklin and others who have gone through this transition and it hasn't always been easy. Did you draw from any of those experiences of swimmers before you to perhaps make this an easier transition for you? KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, I think over the last couple of years, being on the national team and being on the international stage, I've observed a lot and have heard a lot. And I've tried to take in everything that I've learned and apply that to my swimming. And I think it's not necessarily certain athletes, but just overall everything that I've learned from competing at that stage and being around some of the very best athletes on this national team -- and the U.S. has the very best and we have some experienced veterans that have led the way over these last couple of years, that I try to take as much in as I can from them. So a lot of that I did take into account when I made that decision to turn professional this year, just knowing that I have a little bit of time between now and 2020. And that's something that I talked about with my coach, Greg (Meehan), and just really kind of laid out a plan for these next two years. And we knew that there is the potential to have that transition period and kind of have that buffer of time between now and 2020 to become a professional and learn what that's all about and settle into a training rhythm, and it's a different schedule not competing in NCAA and just -- there's small little things like that. We wanted to start that process as early as we could and just learn from it and so far so good. And I'm having fun. And that's the most important thing. Q. What are a couple of ways your schedule has changed since you've turned pro? I imagine there's more commitments, more to-do lists and things like that. Do you have any examples of what that's been like? KATIE LEDECKY: It hasn't been extremely different. I guess my practice schedule changed just a little bit. But for the most part I'm still training with the college team. That's been great. I've signed with TYR, which has been awesome. And that's been a great partnership so far. So there's that. And I was finishing up school. Our spring quarter ended in early June. So I had that to keep my mind busy and everything that comes with that, along with my training and any other professional commitments. But for the most part I just have been focusing on school and training and I have a really great support system around me that they all help me manage my day-to-day life and I'm really grateful for that. Q. Would you like to see NCAA rules shifted so swimmers like yourself don't have to make that decision between continuing to compete at the college level and turning pro? KATIE LEDECKY: I don't really have a strong opinion on that. I think I really benefited from the NCAA experience and that was a choice that I made. It wasn't really even a choice that I felt like I had to make. I really wanted to compete in NCAA. So it wasn't like I was weighing the two options. It was that I wanted to swim NCAA. So I did that and I knew what came with that. And I knew that hopefully I could compete professionally at some time in the future. And Greg was very supportive of whatever decisions I wanted to make. I knew that would be a mutual discussion and something that we would agree on and that he would continue to be supportive of. I feel very fortunate to have competed in the NCAA for two years and to have won two NCAA championships with two incredible Stanford teams. And it's an honor to be a student-athlete at Stanford, and to be able to train with that team and with some of those swimmers. I think a few of them are going to have some really breakthrough meets here this weekend. And that's going to be fun to see and it's been fun to be part of their journeys as well. And they've really had an impact on me as well. Q. Are you motivated to try to be a positive light for swimming right now where there's been some controversies that the sport's dealing with? And how do you feel your sport of swimming, what kind of state it is right now? KATIE LEDECKY: Well, I'm not trying to be a negative for the sport of swimming, that's for sure. I think all of us that are here this weekend, we're just trying to do our best and hopefully that inspires young kids to start swimming or maybe it inspires a young kid in the stands that's already swimming to pursue the sport further, to dream going to the Olympics. I know as the young kid growing up I really looked up to some of these swimmers and was motivated to continue to do what I loved in swimming and set high goals and not be afraid to go chase them. So I hope that all of us here are a positive light and are good role models for the young kids in the stands that are cheering us on. And I'm confident that our sport is going to continue to grow. And I hope that there are a lot more positive things that come from U.S.A. Swimming because there's some really great people in the sport and in U.S.A. Swimming, and I think the focus should really be on all the positive things that are going to come this week. Q. Do you have any specific goals that you could share as far as the pool this week, that you have? KATIE LEDECKY: Make the Pan Pacs team, I guess. That's as much as I'm going to share. My focus is kind of on both of the meets, first making the Pan Pacs team and then hopefully having some good swims this week, too. I'm not just thinking about making the Pan Pacs team. I have higher goals for myself than that. But I want to be my best this summer at Pan Pacs, but if it's kind of split between these two meets and some of my best swims are at this meet and some are at Pan Pacs, I'll take that, too. It's just about, as I said, putting together the best races that I can at the given moment. I think that's what I've always done. I think, whether it's a Pro Swim Series meet, a local meet, an age-group meet in Texas, I'm going to put up the very best swim that I can at that time. It doesn't matter if it's called Nationals or called the TWST age-group senior whatever meet in 2014 when I broke those records. So it's just a matter of getting behind the blocks, getting my mind straight, doing the best warm-up that I can to dive in and swim the very best race that I can. Q. Not to be Debbie Downer, but what was your reaction to the suspension handed down to Ryan yesterday? KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, it's disappointing that Ryan's not going to be here. And, you know, it's an interesting situation. And I think that being said, I really respect USADA and WADA and the rules and regulations that we have in our sport. And it's something that I don't know all the details on. I know as much as you all know about it. And I think it wouldn't really be fair for me to comment much further on that. Q. Some of your teammates have come in earlier in the day and did note that they feel that the U.S. athletes are held to very high standard by USADA, whereas maybe some other countries are a little bit more interested in protecting the athlete than the integrity of the sport. Do you have a thought along those lines? KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, I mean, I think here in the U.S. and certainly within U.S.A. Swimming, I can speak for it, that we haven't had many of these cases recently, which is a great thing, given that most of our athletes are competing clean and haven't had positive tests like this or are in situations like Ryan is in. But we've seen it a little more on the world stage in various parts of the world and we all hope that athletes are competing cleaner than they have been the last couple of years. And we're hoping that FINA and WADA and USADA will continue to push and continue to test athletes very frequently. We know that we're tested by USADA and WADA. And you can go online and find the statistics about how many times we're tested. And I don't know if we can do that about other countries and know how much they're testing certain athletes or how much they're punishing athletes or if they're doing it the right way, whether the sentences they're giving their athletes are the right ones. But I hope that we can continue to push for a clean sport, because that's really important to me. And I think we all dream of the day when we can get up on the blocks and know that we're competing against completely clean athletes. Q. You mentioned some of your Stanford teammates that you expect big things from here -- obviously people expected a lot of things out of Ella. Hasn't gone her way the past few weeks, getting sick. What's it been like to kind of watch her go through this right on the eve of what's supposed to be a big meet for her? KATIE LEDECKY: I'm not going to speak to how well Ella is doing because she's the only one that knows that. But what I can tell you she's been extremely positive and has been doing the very best she can to put herself in a great position for this weekend. You can never count her out, and I think she's as tough as it gets. And I've seen that many times from her, whether it's in a practice or NCAAs or any race that she's done and coming off of last year and having a really great year this year. Just never count her out. She's going to be there this week and she's going to do her very best and we're all going to be cheering her on. Q. You mentioned on Twitter the other day about students in a scavenger hunt. Can you expand on that story and any other recent interesting stories on campus? KATIE LEDECKY: Actually, I was going to Tresidder Memorial Union at Stanford. It's this little central part of campus. I was actually going to FedEx to pick up a package from TYR for the meet. And when I was walking, I was walking up to an Uber because the package was too big to bike with. So I was going up to get an Uber and these kids were coming down this little hill. And one of them stopped me and said, oh, are you a Stanford student. I said, yeah. They said we need to take a picture with a Stanford student for a scavenger hunt. I was like, sure. So while we were taking the picture I said, now does it get you bonus points -- and they were like, yeah, it gets us bonus points. I said, no, does it get you bonus points if I tell you I'm an Olympian? And they're, like, what? And I've kind of been in similar situations in the past. And sometimes I just go along with it. Sometimes it's an Uber driver that asks me what sport I play and I say swimming. And that's the end of the conversation. But this time, I don't know, this day I was just feeling like making these kids' day or trying to make them smile. So I thought they would get a kick out of it. Q. So you told them? KATIE LEDECKY: I said -- actually they didn't even ask me what my name was. So they got the picture and I went up to get the Uber because I wasn't going to stall and have a long conversation. I think they wanted to get on with their scavenger hunt. They took my picture and I started walking on, I said, my name is Katie Ledecky, by the way. And they were, ah, thanks. And I walked up and I think they Googled me or something. And I heard these laughs and screaming and then I did the tweet. And two of the girls actually responded to it saying, sorry, that was us. They didn't need to apologize; I just thought it was fun. Q. (Indiscernible)? KATIE LEDECKY: Oh, yeah, yeah, I ride the bike around campus. Everyone does that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|