Just add water - Katie Ledecky - 2024

 

I found this book when Scott and I were touring Barnes and Noble during his visit to Pittsburgh. It is not that long. It is actually very recent. She is 29 now and published this when she was 27. It was weird to read this book because most of the time the information in the books I read have happened before I was alive. But she is younger than me so a lot of the things she references I remember or have heard about. Also she grew up about 1 hour from me and I worked like 6 miles from Bethesda so I know the area a little bit. 

This book makes you ask yourself a very important question. If you wake up at 430 everyday and eat plain Greek yogurt and swim and then go to school and then after school you swim again and you get a good night sleep and you have a supportive family and you are rich and you have good coaching and you have lots of discipline and you never drink alcohol or party or smoke weed or make a dumb decision, can you become an Olympic gold medalist??? And so I think the answer this question is a resounding no however I think you could be and would be much much much better at whatever you like to do than you are now. 

And the second question is well is doing all that fun and even worth it??? And the answer to this is well how much do you love your hobby and how much discipline do you actually have??? Ledecky talks about how she went to one school dance in her life and how she is mostly not available because she is always at the pool. She rarely dates and does not have any kids yet. So if you want to improve and you like your hobby then yeah I would say it is worth it. To be fair she does make time for family and fun stuff but yeah mostly she is in the pool. 

So I say this is almost a must read for any endurance athlete or professional athlete. There is a part of the book I really liked when her coach told her I know you are Katie Ledecky but you are not perfect. There is room for improvement for everyone (even the best female swimmer in U.S. history and maybe world history I am not sure). I am going to remember this advice when I train for my running events. 

Other cool information from this book: her mom was 42 when she had Katie. This also meant a lot to me. Have kids when you are ready and be a present parent. Don’t be stupid like me. And Emily Ratajkowski basically came out and said the exact same thing recently. Don’t have kids with the wrong person because it’s hard. 

Ledecky never got covid. That is crazy to me because I had it like 3 times. She also did not see her family (other than FaceTime) for about a year during covid which is crazy. 

Even the pros get sick. She was really sick during worlds in Korea and had to go to the ER and scratch an event. She apparently never gets injured. I am not sure if this is just a swimming thing. Swimming is no impact so maybe there are fewer injuries. I don’t swim that much so I am not sure.

Finally, I think the book is a bit misleading. Bethesda is super rich and her uncle is/was part owner of the Capitals. Ledecky has always had really good resources. Second, she never comes out and says she is a genetic anomaly in the book (I dont blame her that would sound arrogant) but the reader has to realize that she is one of one basically. She basically only ever lost to Ariarne Titmus of Australia or when she was sick or in a relay so it wasn’t just her swimming. Her mindset is always positive or when she flops she finds a way to reset her mind quickly. So don’t be fooled. Ledecky was born with tons of natural ability and has become even better through extreme discipline and a positive attitude and a wonderful supportive family. 

Last thing, she has POTS disease, however swimming is a doctor recommended activity for people with POTS so there you go lol. 

Ledecky seems like a really wonderful human and I am impressed by her swimming, her ability to write this book at age 27, (ok so I never know how much the author actually wrote in a memoir or how much “the ghostwriters” wrote but this one really seems like her voice so maybe “the team” just helped a lot with research) (shout out to Simon and Schuster), and her ability to be a great member of the community and the world while still being a great champion. I have been watching some of the races she references in the book on YouTube and will be cheering for her in LA in 2028 assuming she makes the team. It will be her 5th Olympics lol and she will only be 31. Maybe she will keep swimming forever. Ariarne Titmus has retired so there will be new competition. Ok I have said enough. Read this book. Peace!

This is 275 yeah!! I need to add the Bill Clinton book which I read a long time ago but forgot about. We will hit 300 soon!! Yeah!!! Idk what I am reading next. I need to go walk around Barnes and Noble again lol.