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Louise Thomas
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Team USA’s Paris 2024 Olympic athlete Katie Ledecky has both pre-race rituals and mid-competition power pool skills, but there’s one swimmer’s habit she doesn’t keep.
On August 1, the female swimmer secured a new reputation as “the most decorated female Olympic American athlete of all time,” winning silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Though she finished in second place, her medal count jumped to 13, surpassing Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, Jenny Thompson, and Australia’s Emma McKeon. Ledecky won her eighth gold medal overall in the 1500m freestyle final and a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.
Speaking to comedian Leslie Jones after the competition, the swimmer confessed she never pees in the pool. While her Team USA teammate Lilly King told The Wall Street Journal in July that she’s most likely “peed in every single pool” she’s swimming in, Ledecky can’t relate.
In the NBC interview shared on YouTube, Jones asked Ledecky: “You know, I got to ask this because I’m looking at this pool and I see how long the lanes are ... how do you not pee in the pool?”
The top competitor was blunt in her response. She told Jones: “Well, I definitely don’t.”
To clarify, Jones questioned whether “peeing in the pool” as a professional swimmer wasn’t actually common. “I can’t speak for other people,” Ledecky said. “I definitely cannot speak for other people. I try not to think about this.”
Unfortunately for Ledecky, swimmers let their bladder go mid-race often – her teammates included. Aside from King, former Team USA competitor Zach Harting spoke to the WSJ, confirming his indulgence in the habit.
Ever since he felt the urge to pee during his high school state championships, he’s peed every time he’s hit the water for a race. “The world changed for me,” Harting admitted. “Every time I went to a pool after that, I only considered myself to have swam in it if I peed in it.”
One young fan was perfectly impressed with Ledecky after her exceptional win in the 1500m freestyle race. In fact, she was speechless watching as Ledecky climbed out of the pool, ready to accept her eighth gold medal.
Footage posted online showed the little girl screaming with her mouth wide open. “Oh my god,” she yelled. “Woooooooooo.” Stunned, the young fan fell back in her seat, amazed by Ledecky’s victory.
“Katie Ledecky just made this girl’s life,” the video caption read on X, formerly known as Twitter. When the footage was shared on Instagram, Olympic legend Natalie Coughlin commented, expressing her adoration for the sweet moment caught on camera.
Coughlin wrote: “I couldn’t love this anymore. So cute!!!”
