Katie Ledecky

A swim meet has eight lanes with swimmers battling one another to touch the wall first, sometimes by only hundredths of a second.

But when Katie Ledecky is in the water, it’s like no one is around her. And many times, no one is.

I never thought I would see one person win the 200-m, 400-m, 800-m and 1,500-m freestyle in the same World Championships, which is exactly what Katie did last summer. And even more impressive, she did it as an 18-year-old.

What I like most is that Katie doesn’t worry about the expectations that others may put on her. She has a maturity and singular focus that is an inspiration for people of all ages, in all walks of life.

Supported by an amazing family, Katie is a role model for how she defines achievable targets, focuses on her particular task at hand and attacks the process every day to surpass her goals. Then she doesn’t rest on what she’s accomplished but resets what she can achieve and tackles those goals as well.

Katie is not telling people what they can do, she’s showing them how they can do it.

Evans, a four-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer, is the first American woman to concurrently hold the world records in the 400-m, 800-m and 1,500-m freestyle events, which are now all held by Ledecky

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