In the
London Olympics, several young and promising athletes made their debut. The
most famous among these new athletes is Colorado native Missy Franklin, who won
four gold medals and set a new world record in the women’s 200 backstroke. However,
another young swimmer from the United States who is also young and extremely
talented.
Her name is
Katie Ledecky. She is 15 years old and a Maryland native. Ledecky’s specialty
is distance swimming. Her only event in the 2012 Olympics was the 800-meter
freestyle, where she embarrassed the field, beating the silver-medal winner
Mireia Belmonte Garcia by 4.1 seconds. She also beat Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington
by 6 seconds, who set a world record in Beijing in 2008. Ledecky was 0.53
seconds away from breaking this record.
The one
record she did break was the American record, set by Janet Evans eight years
before Ledecky was born.
With Ledecky
being so young, I have no doubt she will break Adlington’s record in Rio de
Janeiro and may break her own record in the 2020 Olympics.
Between
Franklin, Ledecky, and all the other young swimmers that will debut in the 2016
Olympics, the United States swim team has a very bright future.
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