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NFT: Katie Ledecky

Del Shofner : 7/31/2024 11:02 pm
Can't say I ever focused on women's swimming before today, but a slow day, lol. Having now seen KL swim, and having reviewed all the records she holds, I gotta say she's pretty amazing. I watched the 1500m freestyle (in which she set another record - she holds the top 20 times ever in the event, which is kind of hard to get your head around). I used to swim distances - not competitively but for lifeguard training and stuff like that. The idea of racing for 1500m, which is not far short of a mile, just makes me tired thinking about it.

Anyway, kudos to her. She seems to be the GOAT in her areas of competition.
Hasn’t lost in the 1500 since high school  
Jim in Fairfax : 7/31/2024 11:21 pm : link
.
That was a hell of  
Bill in UT : 7/31/2024 11:24 pm : link
an impressive race today, and a great career
She is the GOAT  
uconngiant : 7/31/2024 11:50 pm : link
She is talking about 2028 already too.
RE: Hasn’t lost in the 1500 since high school  
markky : 8/1/2024 7:27 am : link
In comment 16565540 Jim in Fairfax said:
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this is just mind boggling. they said on the telecast that, based on trends, they don't expect her 1500 world record to be broken for 30 years. that's hard to wrap your head around.
worst run olympics?  
bobc : 8/1/2024 7:31 am : link
Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.
RE: worst run olympics?  
rsjem1979 : 8/1/2024 7:39 am : link
In comment 16565571 bobc said:
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Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.


Go back to bed gramps.
RE: RE: worst run olympics?  
Crispino : 8/1/2024 7:58 am : link
In comment 16565572 rsjem1979 said:
Quote:
In comment 16565571 bobc said:


Quote:


Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.



Go back to bed gramps.


Yeah, must be an old guy because he doesn’t want to see a woman get injured or killed in the boxing ring a biological man.
Trite, lazy response.


RE: RE: worst run olympics?  
j_rud : 8/1/2024 8:07 am : link
In comment 16565572 rsjem1979 said:
Quote:
In comment 16565571 bobc said:


Quote:


Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.



Go back to bed gramps.


What a dismissive, shitty take.
Both the athletes in question failed "gender testing"  
j_rud : 8/1/2024 8:11 am : link
at the world championship, meaning their testosterone levels were higher than what is permitted. But they're still competing. It's a pretty objectively shocking thing. These people are fighting. Just pause and reflect on that for a minute.
RE: RE: worst run olympics?  
Spider56 : 8/1/2024 8:20 am : link
In comment 16565572 rsjem1979 said:
Quote:
In comment 16565571 bobc said:

Quote:


Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.

Go back to bed gramps.


You seem to have a recurring theme with posts against old people. Are you dealing with a family issue or just being a dickhead?
RE: RE: RE: worst run olympics?  
rsjem1979 : 8/1/2024 8:21 am : link
In comment 16565581 j_rud said:
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In comment 16565572 rsjem1979 said:


Quote:


In comment 16565571 bobc said:


Quote:


Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.



Go back to bed gramps.



What a dismissive, shitty take.


This is a thread about the achievements of one of the finest Olympians in history that you decided to take a dump on with unrelated grievances.
Olympic world class swimming is always great  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 8:32 am : link
but the pool has proven slow, only one world record set so far. The French in all their wisdom built a pool too shallow, which means the collective waves created are slowing swimmers down significantly

Next time ask an American to design and build it, morons
Del, coming back to your OP …Katie Ledecky is unquestionably the  
Spider56 : 8/1/2024 8:32 am : link
greatest freestyle swimmer ever. Though she is unbeatable in the 800 and 1500, I think her best Olympics was in 2016 when she won gold in the 200, 400, 800, the 4x200 relay and got a silver in the 4x100. (This was before they added the 1500 on the women’s side). As you probably know, the training for the sprint events is very different than for distance as is race strategy. The fact that she was outstanding across the full range of distances proves her greatness; and I doubt this will ever be matched.
Her uncle  
Pete in MD : 8/1/2024 8:36 am : link
John Ledecky co-owns the New York Islanders, which makes her more awesome (to some of us.) :-)
RE: Olympic world class swimming is always great  
Spider56 : 8/1/2024 8:37 am : link
In comment 16565598 mfsd said:
Quote:
but the pool has proven slow, only one world record set so far. The French in all their wisdom built a pool too shallow, which means the collective waves created are slowing swimmers down significantly

Next time ask an American to design and build it, morons


The French may have built a slow pool, but they were smart enough to steal our best coach. (Bob Bowman).
I would  
JayBinQueens : 8/1/2024 8:41 am : link
Have assumed pool size (length, width, height) was all standardized
A brief interview with KL  
Ira : 8/1/2024 9:08 am : link
.
Link - ( New Window )
I thought I heard someone say that this pool is shallower  
GiantBlue : 8/1/2024 9:11 am : link
which makes it harder to break records.

I am not a water displacement scientist, but I found it an interesting observation.

Are olympic pools typically deeper and if so, does it really change the dynamics toward world records?
RE: RE: Hasn’t lost in the 1500 since high school  
Section331 : 8/1/2024 9:15 am : link
In comment 16565569 markky said:
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In comment 16565540 Jim in Fairfax said:


Quote:


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this is just mind boggling. they said on the telecast that, based on trends, they don't expect her 1500 world record to be broken for 30 years. that's hard to wrap your head around.


And in what many are saying is a “slow pool” (don’t ask me how a pool is slow, just repeating what I read!).
Ledecky is amazing  
OlyWABigBlue : 8/1/2024 9:16 am : link
The level of dominance in her favored 800m and 1500m races is truly generational.

As an aside, we did the whole USA swimming thing with one of the kids and the amount of training these distance swimmers put in is staggering. 4000-5000 calories a day during training and still feeling hungry. My kid had the good fortune to swim against some of the current olympians and from the ones we have met, truly great kids and great families - at least from the convos on the deck of a pool. Easy to root for.
FWIW - Slow pool  
OlyWABigBlue : 8/1/2024 9:19 am : link
is typically when the water is too warm and the waves aren't baffled well. Most competition pools are kept in the mid 70's temps rather high 70's/80's. Colder water is denser and allows the athletes to ride higher in the water with less friction.
RE: RE: RE: worst run olympics?  
sb from NYT Forum : 8/1/2024 9:20 am : link
In comment 16565578 Crispino said:
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In comment 16565572 rsjem1979 said:


Quote:


In comment 16565571 bobc said:


Quote:


Does this appear to be the worst run olympics ever. Complaints about the opening ceremony to the complaints about the beds and food and now allowing men to beat up woman boxers.



Go back to bed gramps.



Yeah, must be an old guy because he doesn’t want to see a woman get injured or killed in the boxing ring a biological man.
Trite, lazy response.



Or he’s an old guy because his BBI profile confirms it.
So, you feel vindicated for dismissing him as “gramps” because you …  
Crispino : 8/1/2024 9:41 am : link
took the time to check his profile? You’re quite a detective. 🙄
Ledecky is truly amazing.  
redwhiteandbigblue : 8/1/2024 9:44 am : link
Generational talent. I have been an avid olympics fan since the 1968 olympics in Mexico City and I cannot remember another athlete as dominant as she is in the 1500M . What is refreshing is despite it all, she seems very humble and a genuinely nice person. Those scenes where the cameraman had to pull back just to get another swimmer in the picture is mind-numbing. Michael Phelps was amazing and swam shorter races but Ledecky has not lost in over 10 years in the 1500.
RE: RE: RE: Hasn’t lost in the 1500 since high school  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 9:50 am : link
In comment 16565644 Section331 said:
Quote:
In comment 16565569 markky said:


Quote:


In comment 16565540 Jim in Fairfax said:


Quote:


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this is just mind boggling. they said on the telecast that, based on trends, they don't expect her 1500 world record to be broken for 30 years. that's hard to wrap your head around.



And in what many are saying is a “slow pool” (don’t ask me how a pool is slow, just repeating what I read!).


Exactly. Ledecky has the 20 fastest swims ever recorded in the women’s 1500 meters, including last night in a slow pool. Absolute legend
A slow pool, huh?  
Marty in Albany : 8/1/2024 9:55 am : link
I guess Katie is a mudder as well as a great champion.
RE: I would  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 9:57 am : link
In comment 16565606 JayBinQueens said:
Quote:
Have assumed pool size (length, width, height) was all standardized


The minimum depth for Olympic competition is 2 meters, for international non-Olympic meets its 2.5 meters. The typical Olympic standard has been 3 meters (Beijing was an outlier at 10 meters)

In Paris the pool is 2.15 meters…slightly above the minimum, but shallower than any other Olympics in recent memory.

Several swimmers from multiple countries have pointed this out as the reason everyone’s swimming slower (in many cases, swimmers posting times slower than what they swam a month or so ago in their qualifying meets)

They’ve also been quoted talking about having to adapt their dives and stroke rate to accommodate for the shallower/slower pool
I find Ledecky's swimming stroke remarkable  
ColHowPepper : 8/1/2024 10:02 am : link
(like Del, used to swim a mile + between teaching and night school) so I pay attention to form/technique: if you watched her last night, or as in past 12 years, esp. the sub-surface shots where you see her complete stroke: she hardly uses her legs at all, it's all her upper body. True the 1,500 is not a sprint where the freestyle kicking is furious, but her legs are nearly inert. To me it's remarkable that she has set these records at distance--800m also--and it's all from her arms/chest.
At least they have a pool, unlike the triathletes  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 10:05 am : link
forced to swim through the river of shit that is the Seine
my wife's cousin  
JesseS : 8/1/2024 10:33 am : link
taught her to swim!
RE: my wife's cousin  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 8/1/2024 11:54 am : link
In comment 16565791 JesseS said:
Quote:
taught her to swim!


If true, that's pretty awesome

The way she's head and shoulders ahead of her peers in her best competitions is pretty remarkable.

The 20 best 1500M times being held by the same person? That's pretty much as dominant as it can possibly get.

Not sure where she falls under "the best" swimmers of recent times when taking all the different competitions into context, but she certainly feels like the "biggest" US name in swimming I've seen since Phelps was at his best.
Ledecky is unbelievable  
HardTruth : 8/1/2024 12:06 pm : link
The “sprint” distances in swimming are 50 and 100 in Free.

200 and above are not considered sprint but distance. Only Free has 400 and over

Michael Phelps won the 400 IM and 200 Fly which are considered to be the two hardest most grueling swims

He also swam the 200 free.

Phelps was not a sprinter. Not that he can’t do it but he didn’t swim the 50 free and 100 free. (although he did swim the the 4 x100 in free relays)
RE: RE: my wife's cousin  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 12:08 pm : link
In comment 16565941 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:
Quote:
In comment 16565791 JesseS said:


Quote:


taught her to swim!



If true, that's pretty awesome

The way she's head and shoulders ahead of her peers in her best competitions is pretty remarkable.

The 20 best 1500M times being held by the same person? That's pretty much as dominant as it can possibly get.

Not sure where she falls under "the best" swimmers of recent times when taking all the different competitions into context, but she certainly feels like the "biggest" US name in swimming I've seen since Phelps was at his best.


+1

That’s awesome

I love the clips of her training by swimming an entire length of a pool with a glass of milk on her head, and she doesn’t spill a drop. I was a competitive swimmer much of my life, that’s unfathomable to me
Top 20 1500M  
Blue Baas : 8/1/2024 12:09 pm : link
Leon Marchand is doing something remarkable  
HardTruth : 8/1/2024 12:09 pm : link
He has won the 400 IM , 200 Fly and 200 Breast. Those are the 2 most difficult swims and maybe the top 3. Winning Fly and Breast is very unusual.

He also won 2 individual golds on the same day which apparently hasn’t been done in 48 years.
RE: Leon Marchand is doing something remarkable  
mfsd : 8/1/2024 12:32 pm : link
In comment 16565963 HardTruth said:
Quote:
He has won the 400 IM , 200 Fly and 200 Breast. Those are the 2 most difficult swims and maybe the top 3. Winning Fly and Breast is very unusual.

He also won 2 individual golds on the same day which apparently hasn’t been done in 48 years.


Agreed. What always set Phelps apart IMO is not only winning so many golds, but in a variety of events. But Marchand winning both butterfly and breaststroke is virtually unheard of
RE: RE: my wife's cousin  
JesseS : 8/1/2024 6:36 pm : link
In comment 16565941 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:
Quote:
In comment 16565791 JesseS said:


Quote:


taught her to swim!



If true, that's pretty awesome

The way she's head and shoulders ahead of her peers in her best competitions is pretty remarkable.

The 20 best 1500M times being held by the same person? That's pretty much as dominant as it can possibly get.

Not sure where she falls under "the best" swimmers of recent times when taking all the different competitions into context, but she certainly feels like the "biggest" US name in swimming I've seen since Phelps was at his best.


True. My wife’s cousins are from Bethesda. She was one of the instructors at the same swimming club for little kids when Katie was very little. She went on to swim (or dive, I don’t recall) for SU.
Ledecky is in a league of her own on distance BUT  
Festina Lente : 8/1/2024 11:59 pm : link
The Aussies are absolutely dominating the field out there. Titmus might well become the Phelps of women's swimming. She is elite.
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