Few names in the field at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore carry the weight, expectation and history quite like American swimming star Katie Ledecky.
The nine-time Olympic gold medallist and most decorated female swimmer ever enters competition with well-earned confidence.
That confidence hasn’t just come through her medal haul – though surely that helps – it’s been built through the champion’s daily commitment to the grind of training.
Her 2025 season, in particular, has been fuelled by a focused autumn training block that she had a feeling might produce something special.
“Things are clicking with my stroke. I’ve got a lot of confidence. Training’s just been going really well. So I think just the consistency on all fronts has kind of led to this [kind of season],” Ledecky told reporters in early June at the U.S. world trials in Indianapolis.
The 28-year-old has produced some stellar swims this year, including a world record in the 800m freestyle in May in Ft. Lauderdale – breaking her own mark set nine years earlier at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
Signs that something big was coming showed up early, including a 15:49 1500m freestyle swim in a practice suit late last year.
“That was a practice best by 10 seconds,” Ledecky explained. “So… just starting the year like that, I was like, ‘OK, I can build from this.’”