Katie Ledecky is a 7X Olympic gold medalist, 19X world champion, and multiple world-record holder for Team USA women’s swimming (Team USA, n.d.). When she was just a freshman in high school, she qualified for the 2012 London Games by achieving an Olympic-trials record in the 800-meter freestyle. In doing so, she became the youngest member of the U.S. swimming team (Augustyn, 2021). What goes into her daily 24 hours to keep her so far ahead of the pack?

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Video Credit: The Washington Post

Katie Ledecky’s Daily Routine (Rio 2016):



4:05 AM – Wake Up

4:15 AM – Snack of toast w/ peanut butter, banana or apple

5AM – Swim practice, 6,000 to 6,500 yards

7AM – Breakfast of bacon, egg, cheese and tomato omelet with potatoes; or bagel with cream cheese and egg; or yogurt and fruit with berries… preferred beverage is chocolate milk.

8AM – Nap

10AM – Snack of yogurt, honey and granola with mixed berries, plus either an apple or pear

11AM – Dryland training

12:30 PM – Lunch of pasta with chicken or Caesar salad with chicken and an avocado

1PM – Watch TV, read or take another nap

2:45 PM – Snack of fruit and sometimes more toast w/ peanut butter

3:30 PM – Swim practice, 7,000 to 8,000 yards

6PM – Snack of yogurt; key lime flavor is a recent favorite. Drinks another chocolate milk.

6:30 PM – Dinner of carbs, such as pasta, white rice, or arugula with white beans, tomato, garlic and chicken or steak. Ledecky does not eat candy, ice cream, cake or soda. Although she did have a tiny piece of her mom’s birthday cake in April.

7PM – Read, watch TV…”She has become a news nerd, especially the primaries, caucuses and debates,” her father Dave told ESPN.

9:15 PM – Bedtime (Hersh, 2016)



Gearing Up for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

Due to the interference of COVID-19, Ledecky’s training for Tokyo was unconventional. Yet, in spite of the adversity she has faced due to the pandemic, Ledecky found a way to keep swimming through it all.

In March 2020, the Stanford University pool Ledecky typically trained at underwent a 3 month-long shutdown due to COVID. Yet, she was able to still maintain a training regimen due to the kindness of a local family, who offered their backyard pool to her and her teammate Simone Manuel for swim practice. The pool happened to have two lanes and be 25 yards long, which was a blessing, given the circumstances (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).

And amid the dark clouds of the pandemic, another bright spot appeared along with this pool. The family who leant Ledecky their pool has grandchildren that would come over and enthusiastically root for Ledecky and Manuel–in a socially distanced manner–as these two swimming phenoms glided through the water with grace and speed (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).

Ledecky kept the encouragement of those kids in her heart and mind at the Tokyo Olympics: “I think I’ll have that cheering of those kids kind of echoing in my ears — something that I want to remember back on when I’m getting on the blocks in Tokyo” (Wire & Ramsay, 2021).