2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Day 7 Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
After racking up a total of five Olympic medals this week (four of them gold, and two of them world records), Katie Ledecky will shift into the same gear as young people across the world, transitioning into her freshman year of college. After soaking in the post-Olympic limelight, Ledecky will head off to Stanford University, and new student orientation starts up on September 20th.
“”It’s going to be exciting,” she said of Stanford after her world record-destroying 800 free. “I am heading home in a couple of days and I’ll have to get all my stuff for my dorm and get everything ready. It’ll be tough leaving home but I’m excited for the next chapter.”
While conversation always abounds about the amount of money a young swimmer could make by going pro, Ledecky is embracing what we can call the Missy Franklin route, emphasizing the importance of swimming on a college team.
“I’ve really enjoyed being an amateur, and I think there are some pressures that come with being a professional swimmer, and I don’t think I was ready for that,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having that college experience on the NCAA team at Stanford and I get to be on the team with Simone and Lia, and it’s going to be incredible.”
At Stanford, Ledecky will swim under Greg Meehan, two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the 2014 CSCAA National Swimming Coach of the Year. However, Ledecky says that Bruce Gemmell will always be part of her swimming.
“Greg will be my coach but I know that Bruce will always be heavily involved in my swimming,” she said. “He’s a great friend so I think he will always be a part of my life.”
After yesterday’s race, Gemmell and Ledecky shared an emotional moment.
“He was crying too, and if you know Bruce, he doesn’t cry very often, and I don’t cry very often,” she added. “It was just a very happy moment and it’s been incredible to share that journey with him.”
I hope she keeps up with her decision to attend Stanford. Stanford is a crazy great school. The biggest joys in life is not about money. In fact money sometimes ruin people. Look at Trump.
Plus it fits her academic standards. She comes from a high achieving family.
This is such a hard decision… I see two sides to it.
A.) Become a normal college athlete (despite being a legend already), get the social experience, degree if something happens to her physically, and take a step back from the pressures of competing on a world-wide stage and sponsor talks.
or
B.) Turn Pro now. Now is the absolute best time to turn pro if she debated it. Coming off a performance like that sponsors will flood in, endorsements out the wazoo, and make as much money as she wants on her schedule.
We live in a world where nothing financially is guaranteed. She could set herself up for life and not worry about a dime in… Read more »
She should say sorry Stanford, but I want my millions. She is in a perfect place in her career to sign huge endorsement deals. She is at the top of the world right now, and while I don’t expect her to fall, you never know. Look at Missy….she passed on millions and millions after the London games to swim at Cal and now shes not near in the same position. Swimming in college is an incredible experience, but its not every day that a swimmer has the opportunity to cash in like this. Take the money, Katie.
She should move down to the 50free
She’s always been happiest swimming as a team. Looking back to past WC and this Olympics, in her interviews she was always more excited about swimming in 4×200 relays that were a guaranteed US victory than her amazing individual swims. She gave up precious free time to continue to swim on her HS swim team. She swims for the fun of it and, I believe, rightly fears what will happen when it becomes work. So yeah, she put a price on happiness and found it was higher than the millions she’d make as a pro.
We, as a swim community, assume and hope that her ultimate goal is to dominate in Tokyo and everywhere in between. Based on how emotional… Read more »
I hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s a mistake for a swimmer like KL to swim NCAA. Take the money, and take a class or two per semester at a local university near where she trains. She’ll get her degree and have continuity of coaching. She’s got one more Olympics. NCAA swimming and changing coaches won’t be the best way to potentiate herself in Tokyo.
You want to take a mind like hers and have her take classes “at a local university close to where she trains”? Really? I’m glad Katie and her parents are level headed.
Saying that her personality is sponsor unfriendly is not a reason not to turn pro- she is a multi world record holder, multi gold medalist as well as being kind/friendly/role model. The sponsors will come and prize money/performance bonuses she deserves.
Can she not study for her future, swim with the pro team atrached to the uni- being apart of the team, obviously not being able to swim ncaa etc. She would get the university degree,life balance, student life, be financially secure etc. Why must it be one decision or another- where is the middle ground?
Phelps personality is not sponsor friendly
He’s a man.
She should have gone pro. US college swimming typically has a negative effect on the female superstars so it’s a big risk for Ledecky. Look what happened to Meagher, Caulkins, Evans, Franklin, etc. The distractions and big changes were obviously a detriment to their progress on the international swimming scene for all of them. Hate to see this happen to the greatest freestyler we’ve ever seen.
It’s not what SHE WANTS to do……
Look what happened to Hoff and Knutson.
They are not Katie Ledecky. Bad comparison.