katie ledecky, olympic ingenue.

katie ledecky, at 15yo, was 529-member team usa's
youngest athlete at the london games.
she competed in a single aquatic event:
the women's 800m freestyle.

she won the gold.

& if that alone is not impressive enough for you,
then consider the following:

katie is the second-youngest swimming medalist in team usa history,
just 77 days older than beth botsford, who won gold in atlanta 16 years ago.

she never swam in a major competition until the u.s. olympic trials in june,
where she took first in the 800m, third in the 400m & ninth in the 200m.

she broke the 23-year-old american record held by swimming sweetheart janet evans.

she just missed the world record of british legend becky adlington,
who is a four-time olympian & was a double gold-medalist in beijing.
adlington earned the bronze almost six seconds behind katie.
[spain’s mireia belmonte garcia earned the silver, over four seconds behind katie.]

katie is a high-school sophomore at bethesda, maryland's
stone ridge school of the sacred heart.
she began swimming at the age of five, & at the age of six,
approached michael phelps' — who was not yet an olympian — with an autograph book.

nine years later, he handed back a [metaphorical] golden baton.