Katie Ledecky: 15-Year-Old Swimming Star Will Bring Home More Glory for Team USA

Katie Ledecky is a prodigy, and the young star is going to bring glory to Team USA when she races for the 800-meter freestyle at the London Games.

She is already a delightful story, but she can make herself a hero with a strong showing at her event. Ledecky is the youngest member on the United States Olympic team.

Consider that Ledecky is a soon-to-be high school sophomore, and the story gets incredibly intriguing. She is competing against the best in the world, and she does not even have her permit to drive yet. She swims an extraordinarily long race, one that goes 16 laps of the pool.

Swimming is in Ledecky’s blood—another in a long line of swimmers from her family. Kelly Parsons of the Washington Times reported that her mother, Mary Gen Ledecky, swam for the University of New Mexico, and her brother is a swimmer at Curl Burke Swim Club. Ledecky’s grandfather also helped to build an indoor pool in North Dakota.

Parsons also reported on the pride that the Ledecky family feels with her qualifying for the Olympics. From Mary Gen Ledecky:

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“I just can’t tell you. It makes me emotional just thinking about it,” she said. “We consider ourselves a pretty patriotic family. So for her to be there on Team USA is such a great opportunity for all of us to witness and to feel a part of.”

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Ledecky has a chance to win this race, as she posted the second-fastest time in the world in 2012 at the 2012 Olympic trials. She also broke the Olympic trials record in the 800-meter freestyle, and she has the 12th-fastest 800-meter freestyle swim of all-time.

Ledecky will have to swim well to medal in the final. She will have to contend with Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington and Denmark’s Lotte Friis as her main competition. This stands to be a thrilling race, and the thought of a 15-year-old being one of the favorites in the race is incredible.

Ledecky stands to be one of Team USA’s darlings with a good finish in her race. She is an exceptionally bubbly teenager with no experience with the media, and there is something fantastic about that. Ledecky could exit the Games as one of the great stories that Americans will have witnessed throughout the entire Olympiad.

Dan Friedell of ESPN.com reported that Ledecky’s coach, Yuri Suguiyama, said that Ledecky was the "the best 14- or 15-year-old I've seen come through this club."

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"She's humble and trying to get better, but when you put her in a race, things do change. She's not as unassuming as you might think," he said. "She really enjoys winning, but when she's had a disappointment, she's been able to handle it. [We say], 'It's a bummer,' but then it's time to move on. She's done a really good job with that."

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Ledecky qualified for the final on Thursday morning with a time of 8:23.84. She qualified with the third-fastest time and earned the third spot in the 800-meter final. Ledecky will have to swim the race of her young life, but she is more than up to the task.

Adlington qualified first overall with a time of 8:21:78 seconds, and Friis finished second with a time of 8:21:89.

There is something in the innocence and naivete of a 15-year-old on such a grand stage, and Ledecky has the personality and drive to be a star in the making during the London Games. She gets her chance during the 800-meter final on Friday night, and we all should be watching.

These are the moments that make events like the Olympics so compelling, and all should tune in to see her race. Ledecky is a shining star and a fresh face on the American sports scene, and there is beauty to that.

With a great performance in the 800-meter freestyle on Friday, she will become a star, and she will bring glory to Team USA.