“A great year in and out of the pool” - Katie Ledecky wins AP's Female Athlete of the Year title

Katie Ledecky had a fruitful 2022 despite being believed to be past her prime after the Tokyo Olympics. She won several medals and broke many World and Championship records.

On Wednesday, Katie Ledecky was named the AP Female Athlete of the Year. A group of 40 sports journalists and editors from newspapers around the nation picked the 25-year-old for this honor.

Ledecky has won this award twice now, the first time being in 2017. She became only the second swimmer after Michael Phelps to win the Athlete of the Year title more than once, and the first female to do so. While retweeting the Associated Press' tweet, she wrote a heartfelt message:

"Thank you @AP for the honor and thanks to my coaches, teammates, family, and friends for helping make 2022 a great year in and out of the pool... Putting in the work now to try to make 2023 better than 2022..."

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How did Katie Ledecky win the AP Award?

Katie Ledecky had a change of surroundings following the Olympic Games last summer. She relocated to Gainesville, Florida, where she joined the University of Florida's professional training program. It quickly rose to become the most advanced international-calibre training group in the nation.

Ledecky also agreed to participate in the program as a volunteer assistant, which allowed her to travel and train alongside the students.

She later won four individual gold medals at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, proving that the shift was successful. She won the 400m freestyle (3:58.15), 800m freestyle (8:08.04), and 1500m freestyle (15:30.15), as well as featuring in the third leg for the team which won the 800m freestyle relay. In the 800m relay, she had a split of 1:53.67 – fastest of the field.

Ledecky at the 2022 FINA World Championships

At the Toronto World Cup stop, Ledecky broke a world record in the 1500m short-course freestyle (15:08.24), a discipline in which she seldom competes. A week later, she also broke the 800m freestyle (7:57.42).

Katie Ledecky added two more world records to her resume before 2022 was through. Despite competing in the 25m dash seldom, she established short-course records in the 800m and 1500m a week apart.

The American swimmer, who switched coasts and coaches after the Tokyo Olympics, put on another outstanding display at the World Championships. She broke two world records in the event.

In its 92-year existence, 18 women have taken home the prize more than once. Babe Didrikson, a track and field athlete and golfer, holds the distinction of winning this award the most times. She took the title six times, between 1932 and 1954.

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Katie Ledecky's decision to change her location and coach

Katie Ledecky quit coach Greg Meehan and the Stanford University team last year after an Olympic performance that was only somewhat disappointing. She trained and competed with the team while obtaining a psychology degree.

Getting closer to her family in Washington, D.C. was her primary objective. She was fascinated by the University of Florida program that Anthony Nesty, a rising star in the coaching world, had established.

Ledecky appears to have been driven to even higher heights by the switch to Nesty, a program where she typically trains alongside male swimmers.