“It’s remarkable” - Throwback to when Michael Phelps called Katie Ledecky a ‘stud’

Ledecky has become the face of American swimming ever since winning her first gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics when she was 15 years old. She is a prolific long-distance swimmer, winning almost every race she participates in.

Today, Ledecky stands as the most successful female swimmer in the history of the World Championships, with a total of 19 titles.

In 2014, at the age of 17, Katie stunned the world at the Pan Pacific Championships in Queensland, Australia. As a teenager, she swam in five finals, won five gold medals, and set two world records in the process.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky during the 2022 Golden Goggle Awards (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Speaking to SwimSwam after winning the gold medal in the men’s 100 butterfly at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, legendary Olympian Michael Phelps had this to say about Ledecky:

"She's a stud. I mean it's unbelievable. We literally were sitting at lunch today and we were like 'Oh, yeah you've won three out of four' and she was just like so nonchalant 'No I just won four out of four', and we were like 'Oh yeah, that would have been second in our nationals ... nice ... behind yourself' ... she's a stud and watching her swim is remarkable. What is that the third or fourth world record in the last three or four months? .... Yeah, she's very talented and she works hard and it shows."

Michael Phelps himself had quite a successful run at the event. He won three gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly, the 4 x 200-meter freestyle, and the 4 x 100-meter medley.

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Ledecky at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships

At the championships, she first swam in the 200-meter final. She held a half-second lead halfway and won by 1.46 seconds with 1:55.74 on the clock, a new meet record.

About 45 minutes later, she swam in the 800-meter final and won with a time of 8:11.35. She finished ahead of New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle and set a new meet record.

The talented swimmer was very close to setting a new world record as she swam most of the race at her world record pace.

Katie Ledecky poses for a photo at the New York Stock Exchange (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

The next day, she won gold and set another meet record along with her teammates Shannon Vreeland, Missy Franklin, and Leah Smith in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. On the same day, she swam in the 100-meter freestyle heats but did not qualify.

On day 3 of swimming at the Gold Coast Aquatic Center, Ledecky set another meet record in 400-meter freestyle heats with a time of 4:03.09. In the finals, she won the event and set a new world record with a time of 3:58.37.

The teenager then set her fifth world record of the year in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:28.36. She was so dominant that she lapped three competitors and finished 27.33 seconds ahead of the silver medalist!