Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky Earn U.S. Olympic Committee Honors

Top performances throughout August earned swimmers Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Maryland) and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Maryland) Athlete of the Month recognition, while the U.S. Women’s Eight Rowing Team received Team of the Month honors, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.

Ledecky became the first woman to win four individual gold medals (200-, 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle), while anchoring the women’s 800 freestyle relay to the gold medal at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, held Aug. 21-24 in Gold Coast, Australia. Ledecky also captured three national titles at the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships, held August 6-10 in Irvine, California. At the national championships, Ledecky broke the 400 freestyle world record with a time of 3:58.86, and then eclipsed her own records in the 400 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.

In his first international competition since the London 2012 Olympic Games, 18-time Olympic gold medalist Phelps led the U.S. men with five medals at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, held Aug. 21-24 in Gold Coast, Australia. Phelps won gold medals in the men’s 100 butterfly, 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay, in addition to silver medals in the 200 individual medley and 400 freestyle relay. Earlier in the month, Phelps posted the fastest 100 butterfly time in the world this year in 51.17 at the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships.

The U.S. women’s eight team of Katelin Snyder (Detroit, Michigan), Heidi Robbins (Hanover, New Hampshire), Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, North Carolina) Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Lauren Schmetterling (Moorestown, New Jersey), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, New York) and Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wisconsin) won its ninth consecutive world title at the FISA World Rowing Championships, held Aug. 31 in Amsterdam. Team USA has not lost a world championship or Olympic race since 2006.

Triathlete Gwen Jorgensen (St. Paul, Minnesota) finished runner-up and rower Katie Bertko (Oakland, California) claimed third in the female vote. On the men’s side, rower Seth Weil (Menlo Park, California) and diver Jordan Windle (Morrisville, North Carolina) earned second and third place. The U.S. C1 singles canoe men’s team of Casey Eichfeld (Charlotte, North Carolina), Fabien Lefevre (Bethesda, Maryland), and Zach Lokken (Durango, Colorado) finished second, while the U.S. Women’s National Softball Team finished third in the team category.

Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. A voting panel selects the winners from the pool of nominees with online fan voting via Twitter accounting for 10 percent of the total vote.

FEMALE
1. Katie Ledecky, Swimming
2. Gwen Jorgensen, Triathlon
3. Katie Bertko, Rowing

MALE
1. Michael Phelps, Swimming
2. Seth Weil, Rowing
3. Jordan Windle, Diving

TEAM
1. U.S. Women’s Eight Team, Rowing
2. U.S. C1 Singles Team, Canoe/Kayak
3. U.S. Women’s National Team, Softball

Swimming News courtesy of the USOC.