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Katie Ledecky is ready to take on any challengers for her swimming crown

By Jasmyn Wimbish

Silver medallist Italy's Simona Quadarella (L), gold medallist USA's Katie Ledecky (C) and bronze medallist Australia's Ariarne Titmus pose with their medals after the final of the women's 800m freestyle event during the swimming competition at the 2019 World Championships at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 27, 2019. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo credit should read ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)
Silver medallist Italy's Simona Quadarella (L), gold medallist USA's Katie Ledecky (C) and bronze medallist Australia's Ariarne Titmus pose with their medals after the final of the women's 800m freestyle event during the swimming competition at the 2019 World Championships at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 27, 2019. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo credit should read ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky has no problem finding motivation to continue to be the best swimmer in the world.

After gaining national attention from her Olympic performance at the Rio Games in 2016, Katie Ledecky is gearing up for the 2020 Games, only this time she’ll be the one everyone is trying to beat.

Ledecky is no stranger to winning after winning 4 gold medals and one silver in Rio. Even during her first Olympic Games in 2012 she had a hard time imagining herself finishing any lower than first.

“I was trying to visualize my race and before the finals I was having trouble falling asleep,” Ledecky said. “I couldn’t visualize myself winning anything but gold which for me was pretty crazy at the time given that it was my first international race and first Olympics.”

She ended up taking home her first Olympic gold medal in the 800 m freestyle and hasn’t slowed down since.

For some, the constant winning could lose its edge and trying to find motivation when you’re winning races the way Ledecky does could be challenging. But that hasn’t been an issue for the Stanford product. While some greats have to trick themselves into competing at the highest level, Ledecky finds her fuel in being at the top.

“I can see that there’s a lot of fast swimming going on around the world, a lot of swimmers are trying to beat me and have big goals,” Ledecky said. “This is a big year for everyone, so I have no troubles finding the motivation to workout everyday with a smile on my face with some really great teammates and coaches that push me toward my goals.”

With the training regimen Ledecky adheres to it’s not surprising that she’s been dominating the sport since 2012. She trains 10 times a week, broken up into 2 hour sessions that mix pool training, weight training and dry land workouts. It’s a training schedule Ledecky has been doing for as long as she can remember, and something that has only increased in intensity over time.

Everything Ledecky does in and out of the pool is to set her up for the 2020 Games, and while it can be a hectic lifestyle it’s one that Ledecky is prepared for.

“I have big goals for myself and I’m motivated internally and focused on getting back into training and working hard over this next year,” Ledecky said.

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