Book Review: Katie Ledecky dishes on what makes an Olympic legend in ‘Just Add Water’
Associated PressKatie Ledecky didn’t dream of becoming an Olympian as a kid. This is the story that forms the basis of Ledecky’s memoir, “Just Add Water: My Swimming Life.” Fifteen years old and in London, Ledecky became the youngest athlete ever to win the women’s 800-meter freestyle at the Olympics. She won six more Olympic gold medals in Rio and Tokyo and broke Michael Phelps’s record of 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. She’s widely regarded as one of the best swimmers of all time, but like many athletes, hers isn’t just a story about her elite athleticism — it’s about the people who helped her get there. She also delves into the techniques and training that elevated her swimming and led to her remarkable dominance as a distance swimmer: her discovery of the “loping stroke” that allowed her to get even faster, her right-side-only breathing that ensured she’d only ever come up for air on her good side, the progression-style training that allowed her to continue to swim extraordinarily long distances without getting injured.