From the swimming pools of Washington D.C to the pools in Rio, Katie Ledecky has had quite the journey. Ledecky began her debut in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Breaking the American 800 meter freestyle record with a time of 8:14.63, she was making her way to fame. From then on Katie continued breaking records, including world records. Her first world record was in 2013 World Championships, where she broke Rebecca Adlington’s 800m freestyle record. This record was the same one Ledecky recently beat in this year’s Summer Olympics.

Ledecky is making long distance swimming exciting to watch from start to finish. During Rio’s Summer Olympic Games she was unbelievably far ahead in the 800; the broadcasters assumed she was going to tire out from starting the so quickly, but yet again she came to surprise. Katie continued the race with such voracity, and finished almost a whole pool length ahead of her competitors.

From the time span of 4 years Katie has earned 19 gold medals and 1 silver medal. 5 of those golds won were Olympic medals, while the other 14 were acquired from world championships. Ledecky is swimming laps and taking names (and records), while becoming a great role model for younger swimmers, explaining the importance of goal setting and beating your personal best, even if it is a world record.