U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - SWIMMING

June 15, 2021

Katie Ledecky

CHI Health Center

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to Katie, who as you all know, punched her ticket to Tokyo yesterday evening by winning the women's 400-meter freestyle, joining us this evening after a big 24 hours.

Q. There's certainly been some talk back and forth between Australia and here about the 400, about times, and of course you qualified, but I know you've said already and your coach has said that that was a little slower than you would have wanted it to be. Could you walk us through again your thought process on that?

KATIE LEDECKY: Sure, yeah. Yeah, first of all, it was just great to get on the team. As I said back in the mixed zone earlier, the first race is always the toughest, and just in this environment, I mean, you can see it tonight, there are so many close races. There's just that added level of excitement and nervousness and all that.

I felt like I would be faster than that. Obviously I've been faster than that this season. Even in prelims I remember back in Mission I was 4:01 in prelims and that felt like the easiest thing. So to feel like I was going harder than that yesterday and went 4:01, I was just surprised by that time.

But I think that's just from going out pretty hard and that back 200, I just wanted to get the race over with and get to the wall and punch my ticket.

Yeah, the time is what it is. I think moving forward I feel more relaxed now and feel like of course I have the rest of the week moving forward, but just trying to look for ways to improve between now and Tokyo and just thinking about the things we need to work on in training. Obviously it's only a month, so it's not like you can accomplish a whole lot, but I know that the past two Olympic cycles I have gotten a lot out of those training camps and have used them to my benefit.

I think moving forward we can get better from here.

Q. Because you're in the public eye and because you're who you are and you've had the career that you've had, do you expect more scrutiny, more expectations on you this time around?

KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah. I mean, there are always expectations out there. But as I said the other night, I think the most important expectations are the ones that I have for myself. I think I do a pretty good job of sticking to those and not seeing what kinds of medal counts or times that people are throwing out about what I could accomplish if everything goes perfectly.

I just have to stick to my own goals, and that's what I do, and take it one day at a time, like I feel like I did well with that today, one event at a time.

Q. What keeps you going? Obviously you've accomplished so much and you're destined to accomplish plenty more in Tokyo, but what keeps you going? What keeps you focused, and what keeps you centered given everything that's happened this past year with COVID? What was it that made you keep going and keep persisting in your career?

KATIE LEDECKY: Really my goals. I always have goals for myself, and those keep me motivated every day. My teammates, my coaches, they motivate me and keep me moving forward. That's been so key over the last year where for times we were all scattered around the country and I really just had Simone and Greg for a couple months to train with, and that was great, and we really helped each other during that time, both from a swimming perspective and just getting through the pandemic. Just all those little chitchats after and before practice about life moving forward and what's going to happen with the Olympics and trials and all those things. Just thinking back to kind of March through June last year and where we are now, it's just -- it felt surreal yesterday being in the ready room walking out for a final at Olympic Trials.

Yeah, it's just the people that I surround myself with, they keep me moving forward, and my goals.

Q. Over the next 12 to like 14 hours until you're back racing again, what do you do to get yourself into a mode where you can jump right back in after you've already had some high-stress races?

KATIE LEDECKY: Well, I'm taking tomorrow morning completely off. Just between all the racing I've done today and yesterday and just kind of the days leading up to the first race, all the different practices and stuff, haven't had a good solid block off.

We planned out this whole week in advance and tried to plot out when I could -- I did a longer warm-down tonight so that I could take the morning off. I also haven't been outside in like three days, so I'm planning on doing a little bit of that tomorrow to get some fresh air.

I think I knew today was probably -- this morning was probably the hardest session. It might sound funny given that tomorrow it's the finals of the same two races as this morning, but just coming off of last night into the morning and then having another semi, I just knew today would be the hardest day. I can use the morning tomorrow to reset a little bit and attack tomorrow night.

Q. Greg was saying that you've gotten better at compartmentalizing. I wonder if you agree with that, and how difficult is that, whether it's tackling two races in a session or moving past a disappointing time?

KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, I think I've gotten better at that and probably following instructions and just -- yeah, I think if I had gotten a 1:57 in prelims in the 200 free a couple years ago, I think I would have been a wreck -- not a wreck, but I would have let it bother me, but this morning I was just able to roll it off and say, okay, I got the job done, that's all I needed to do this morning, and roll into my mile, and felt good there.

I think I've learned how to take things once step at a time, and I've gotten better at those kinds of things, and I've gotten better with practices. If I have a bad practice I don't let it get to me. I really haven't had too many of those over the past couple months, so that's a good thing.

But I think just knowing that I'm better at those kinds of things leads to better practices, better weeks and months and ultimately seasons strung together. Yeah, I think I've grown a lot, both in and out of the pool, and have learned a lot. I'm experienced now and just know how to manage both the physical and mental aspects of the sport.

Q. You don't have surprises like that too often. You've been amazingly consistent since 2012. Maybe you're managing things, you and Greg, but kind of outside that, the next layer, family, friends, do you have to ever say, hey you guys, calm down a minute here, everything is okay? Do you have to do that at all with your inner circle?

KATIE LEDECKY: No. My parents are extremely supportive, and so if I'm happy, they're happy. I talk to them about swimming from time to time, and they're here and they're here to support me. Honestly last night after I got back to the hotel, that was the first time my immediate family had been in the room together since I think Christmas of 2019.

Honestly, just being here, it's been kind of like a reunion for me, and we just had kind of a moment where I started crying, they started crying. It was like, three-time Olympian just kind of hit me. Just so nice to be back with them. We've all been through so much over the past year, and I think you kind of take things for granted, and we don't want to take things for granted.

It's just nice to have those moments to celebrate with them. I have really great friends, as well. Getting lots of messages of support, and it just means a lot.

Q. I think you took a photo with Erin when you got out of the pool after the 200. Could you ever have imagined that scenario where you're in an Olympic Trials semi with Erin?

KATIE LEDECKY: Honestly I could. That girl is amazing. I couldn't have imagined it when I first met her when she was seven years old, but you could just see over the past couple years her progression and her drive. It's honestly pretty similar to what I had when I was her age. Of course she has really great role models in the sport with her older brother Andrew being an Olympian and Bruce with all of the success that he's had and her mom swam in college, as well. She just had great people around her and has had some really great coaches and teammates that I know.

She goes to my high school, Stone Ridge, School of the Sacred Heart. Phoebe also does, so we had three Stone Ridge Gators in a semifinal or final tonight, which was really exciting.

Since Erin and I were in the same heat, we were getting out of the pool around the same time, so I said, Erin, smile real quick for a picture, so we could at least get a picture. Phoebe, Erin and I still have to get our Stone Ridge picture but I figured we'd at least get one of the two of us.

Q. About your family, you can tell how much it meant to you to have everybody together last night. What does it mean to you that your uncle went to the lengths that he did to be in the room with you last night?

KATIE LEDECKY: Well, he actually wasn't. I still haven't really talked to him or seen him, but he's been running around. He stayed for my prelims this morning and then booked it to the airport to make it to Tampa. He's in Tampa right now for the game. I think it's 1-1 unless somebody scored in the five or ten minutes since we've been here. And then he's coming back either tonight or tomorrow morning. He's going to make my finals tomorrow.

It's incredible. I mean, he's such a great supporter, as well, and really kind of a part of our immediate family, as well.

Yeah, he's been texting me, and I just appreciate the effort he's made so much. It's so cool that we have these things going on right now together, and I hope he's getting a little bit of rest.

Q. I wanted to ask you about a couple swimmers that you have a lot of history with. First off, Allison Schmitt. She's still going strong and doing what she's doing. I wonder if you could fill us in on what your first interaction was with her and what it means to see her still going at this age, and then also looking toward the Olympics, same thing with Federica. She's announced she's going to retire after this year. You guys have had some great races in the past. I wonder if you could talk about watching them as more of a youngster and then just what it's been like seeing them still go strong now.

KATIE LEDECKY: For sure, yeah. I guess I'll start with Allison. She's such a great friend, such a great teammate, and as you said, she's been doing this for so long and has just been such a force in our sport, both in and out of the pool.

I think my first interaction with her was probably in 2011 at -- no, 2012 in the spring at the Charlotte Ultraswim. That was kind of a breakout meet for me and got to race Allison a few times and was just thrilled to be in a lane next to her. She was so kind and so supportive and just -- I think she was there, Michael was there, and of course they're good friends, and all these Olympians, Katie Hoff I think was there. She gave me the award the other night.

They were all coming up to me saying, "good job," or "keep it up."

So then we went to London together, obviously, Schmitty and I, and I got to know her there, but I think our friendship has really taken off over the last couple years, and we've been on a lot of trips together.

I'm excited to see what she does for the rest of the week. I think it would be great if she's on that team, and she'll just bring really great leadership again, both in and out of the pool.

And then in terms of Federica, yeah, she's had a really great career, as well, and her consistency is so impressive, especially in that 200 free and how basically every world championships since I don't even know the years, the early 2000s that she's won a medal.

She's such a tough competitor, and I know that she's probably got a big year ahead of her. I remember -- to your other question about growing up when I was younger, I remember when she first broke four minutes in the 400. I think that was around the time where I was kind of starting to dial in to the mid distance and distance freestyle events, so I remember watching that race and watching a lot of the races from the world championships in 2009 and just being so inspired to set bigger goals for myself.

I think it's always impressive when somebody breaks a barrier, and of course she was the first one to do that. Now I've done that, Arianne has done that. I don't think anyone else has done that, but I'm sure there will be a couple more that will do that in the coming months or years.

Yeah, she set the stage in that event and the standard, and of course in the 200, as well.

Q. Can you talk about some of the younger women who are making the team? Take yourself back, I guess it's nine years, back when you were the 15 year old, how you're going to probably be a mentor to them but you're probably going to have a pretty heavy schedule in Tokyo, how you're going to balance all that?

KATIE LEDECKY: Well, I'm so excited. You never know exactly how the team is going to pan out, but already you can see there are I don't know how many now, four or five teenagers and Olympic rookies, as well, not just teenagers. It's going to be a really fun team, I think. They'll bring a lot of excitement and new energy. I hope I can be a mentor to them, as you said, and just help them manage the energy.

They're going to be so excited. You've got to use that to your benefit. I remember in London just having that one race, I loved just having a front-row seat at the Olympics for five or six days and watching all these swimmers I'd watched for so many years swim.

I definitely used that. I used that as inspiration, and I hope they can do the same and have a really great experience. I know that this summer's Olympics might not look exactly what past Olympics have looked like. They might not have their family there and things like that, so I think it's all the more important that the older swimmers on the team kind of serve as their family, and I think once we get together for training camp we can come together as a family, even in the coming week and a half where after trials we all go back home. I hope I can reach out to some of them and make sure that they know that they can shoot me a message or pick up the phone and call if they have any questions or anything they want to talk about going into it.

Q. You said in the mixed zone that you felt more nervous than you thought you would yesterday or more than usual. I'm wondering why that would be when you also alluded here that you very rarely have a bad day in practice. You put in the work, so this is supposed to be the fun part for you. Why do you think there were more nerves?

KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, I think it just goes back to what I was saying earlier about how we were in this venue with so many fans, the noise, all of it. Just was something we hadn't experienced all year or really in two years. I mean, if you think back to the last really big meet I swum at was Guangzhou and that wasn't the most pleasant experience for me.

I think just being back in that environment was -- I just needed a reminder of what that felt like. You can't take for granted that you're going to make the team, and I think you see that across all the events. There are always surprises and always fast swims being thrown down, best times by other swimmers and things like that.

I respect my competitors so much and respect swimming in the U.S. that I have those nerves that everyone else has. I mean, it's a tough meet.

Q. You come into this meet, this is your third Trials and obviously a big part of that is managing expectations of the meet. When something doesn't go your way in and out of the pool, a race or not a race, how do you feel like you can bounce back from that, especially with the year we've had, third Olympic Trials but maybe a new look with the pandemic and an added event in the 1500?

KATIE LEDECKY: Yeah, I wouldn't even say things haven't gone my way because I got the job done yesterday, so I don't feel like there was really anything I had to bounce back to today. As I said, I would have liked to have been faster, but I think I was able to just come into today and take care of business and just try to feel better than I did yesterday, and that's all I'm trying to do, just feel better as I go and feel things out, take some notes on things I can improve on moving forward.

I think that's how I manage it. I just take it one day at a time like that.

Q. On the question about younger swimmers and younger talent, why do you think it is that the United States has been able to produce consistently year after year, especially on the women's side, such amazing female swimmers, thinking back to when you were 15 and what we've seen already at this meet and your answer about teenage girls and Olympic rookies? Why do you think that is? Do you have any ideas?

KATIE LEDECKY: I think there are a number of factors, but one thing I think I would point to would be our great club swimming system and summer league swimming honestly. There are a lot of great club coaches out there that get their athletes prepared, and I think -- I don't think I can point to one exact thing because as you've seen at this meet, there are the really young swimmers like 15, 16 that are making it, there are the ones about to go to college that are maybe 18 or 19, and we've got swimmers from Virginia like Torri, we've got swimmers from Alaska like Lydia. It's all over.

I think it just speaks to the depth of swimming in our country, and as I said, the great club system, great club coaches that know what they're doing.

You know, the U.S. has such a great history of swimming that I think a lot of young swimmers get really inspired to set those big goals from a pretty young age, and yeah, just they're unafraid, and it's fun to see.

Q. Torri last night said she heard that you had predicted what her time would be --

KATIE LEDECKY: I'm very proud of this.

Q. It looks like that's true. How often do you make predictions like that, and how often are you right?

KATIE LEDECKY: I don't often. I was just getting out of the warm-down pool yesterday and the 100 fly was going to start in about, I don't know, 10 minutes, and Greg was like, What do you think Torri is going to go, and I said, Hmm, 55 -- I was like, I think she's going to go faster than she did the night before. I think a little more than a tenth. So I was like, 55.6, and he goes, 6 what, and I was like, 66. And then she goes 55.66. Yeah, her coach Evan was giving me a hard time that I should have predicted faster, so I told him that I would do that in Tokyo.

Q. Have you spent much time around her? Were you involved in her recruitment process? What are your impressions of what she's doing and still going to do here?

KATIE LEDECKY: I haven't spent a ton of time around her. She's from the same LSC as I am, Potomac Valley Swimming, and of course she's younger than me, so it's not like we swam against each other very much when I was younger. I think the first time I really met her was actually probably Christmas 2019, the last time I was back home. She was training at a long course pool in Virginia called the St. James, and I had booked some time there, as well, to train long course. So she was there with a couple of her teammates, and I was there with maybe one or two teammates or with an NCAP group.

So yeah, we chatted a little bit after practice, got to know her coach a little bit, as well. I don't remember if I was at Stanford when she was on her recruiting trip or -- we didn't have a ton of interaction, but I've actually probably had the most interaction I've had with her here. She and Regan have been sort of sitting with our Stanford team since they're the only ones from their club team here at the meet. Of course they're coming to Stanford in the fall, so they're part of our family.

I've been so impressed with Torri. Yesterday she was sitting on the couch that we're sitting on doing origami about 30 minutes before her race, like so calm. She's got her head on straight. She's going to continue to do some great things, and really can't wait to be on a team with her.