FLEX TIME M idd l e S choo l : G o l d e n I n spiratio n
Young Olympian Proves ‘Anything is Possible’
full of 7th and 8th grade boys by saying, “Katie’s dad and
By Courtney Kennedy
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I have been best friends since the following statement
runswick’s colors were more
was true: The Knicks are the defending NBA champions.”
gold than brown when Katie Ledecky, a gold
(That’s 1973-1974, by the way.)
medal-winning member of the 2012 United
States Olympic swim team, visited Brunswick’s
was shown, the athlete took center stage. She was clad in
After an eight-minute video clip of her historic swim
a U.S.A. jacket and a gleaming gold medal hanging from
Middle School in January.
Anthony Fischetti, 8th grade dean and Middle School
history coordinator, introduced Katie to an auditorium
At 15, Katie was not only the youngest member of
her neck. She was eager to share her experience and take
the 2012 United States Olympic swim team, but also
questions from the boys.
the youngest American athlete to participate in any
sport at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Perhaps even more
she recalled. “I was at the point where I could say, ‘Go
remarkable about her Olympic achievement is that, in
into this place. Have a great swim. Whatever happens,
“Leading up to my final race I was pretty calm,”
happens. Have fun and enjoy it,
an arena stacked with veteran swimmers, Katie was soaking in her first-ever international meet experience. Brunswick star swimmer Eric Ronda ’13 and swim team captain Sander Profaci ’13 joined 2012 Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky during her visit.
Currently a sophomore at Stone Ridge
School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Md., Katie qualified for the games in the 800-meter freestyle.
“Never in a million years did I think I would even make the team. It just shows you that anything is possible.”
She captured the world’s attention when she beat
because there’s no guarantee you’ll be back here again.’”
After going through checkpoints
at which Olympic officials checked the legality of her bathing suit and goggles, she was escorted into a
waiting room, where she sat next to Michael Phelps,
the defending Olympic and world champion in the
who was preparing for his last individual race of games.
event, 23-year-old veteran distance swimmer Rebecca
Together, they watched teammate Missy Franklin win
Adlington of Great Britain, who was swimming before
gold and break a world record.
her home crowd.
Katie was then ushered into the second holding room,
Katie swam so fast that she won by more than four
where she watched Phelps win his last gold medal of the
seconds, with a time of 8 minutes 15.63 seconds.
games. She said she remembers thinking, “Oh, geez, I
She held the lead from start to finish and broke
better not be the only American not to win a medal
the American record in the
today.” This memory elicited laughs from the blue-
event, set by legendary Olympic champion Janet Evans in 1989 — eight years before Katie Ledecky, age 15, is the proud winner of a 2012 Olympic gold medal. Ledecky is the youngest swimmer ever to win the 800-meter freestyle, breaking the American record for the event in doing so.
Katie was even born.
blazer-clad pool of Brunswick boys.
Her thoughts during her own race? “I wasn’t thinking
about much,” she said. “My game plan was to go out fast, but not too fast, because it’d affect me later on in the
Upon touching the wall
race,” Katie said. “When I turned at the 600-meter mark,
at the end of her race,
it was like waking up from a dream. I couldn’t believe I
Katie became the young-
was actually winning. And then touching the wall at the
est swimmer ever to win
end was the most unbelievable feeling ever. It definitely
the 800-meter freestyle
was an oh-my-gosh moment.
event at the Olympics,
“Never in a million years did I think I would even
and the second-young-
make the team,” she said. “It just shows you that
est American swimmer
anything is possible.”
ever to win a gold medal
at the Olympics.
Brunswick’s swim team, Will Powers and James
At the assembly’s conclusion, two members of
Simone, both in the Class of ’17, presented Katie with a Brunswick Swimming T-shirt — a small token of appreciation and admiration for the inspiring young winner of Olympic gold.
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times of Brunswick • Spring 2013
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