"Katie Ledecky swims almost like a guy" - When Michael Phelps showered praise on the American swimmer in the 400m freestyle

Michael Phelps once compared Katie Ledecky's swimming prowess with that of male swimmers following her blistering 400m freestyle swim. Interestingly, the 23-time Olympic champion clocked a similar time as that of Ledecky half an hour after making the statement.

Ledecky competed alongside Phelps at the 2012 London Olympics and was the youngest member of the US Olympic Team at 15 years old. She won the gold medal in the 800m freestyle in a national record time of 8:14.63 but hadn't qualified for the 400m freestyle.

The 27-year-old would go on to break the world records in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events in the following year before shattering the 400m freestyle one as well in 2014, clocking 3:58.86 at the National Championships. She improved it to 3:58.57 before Phelps jokingly challenged her for a race in 2016 after the duo clocked similar times during the men's and women's freestyle heats at the Pro Swim Series.

The 23-time Olympic champion was commentating when Ledecky swam 4:02.67 in the 400m freestyle heat and compared her strokes to that of male swimmers.

"I’ve watched her stroke so much, really, over the last couple of years. Really, she swims almost like a guy. Her long, loping stroke ... stronger and stronger throughout the race. I think her stroke is so different from all the other females that she swims against," he said (via NBC).

The Baltimore Bullet was left amazed by Ledecky when she won the finals by 8.39 seconds.

“It doesn’t even look like she’s breathing hard. It’s just unbelievable,” Michael Phelps added.

The 28-time Olympic medalist didn't swim in his finals after clocking 4:02.67 in the 400m freestyle, the exact time clocked by Ledecky in her heat. Phelps would finish his career with a personal best of 03:50.53 while Ledecky is now the third fastest in history with a time of 03:56.46.

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Michael Phelps defended Katie Ledecky after the swimmer was subjected to criticism for winning bronze in 400m freestyle at the Paris Olympics

2024 Summer Olympics in Paris France - Michael Phelps with Katie Ledecky (Source: Getty)

Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Olympics. Four years later, she was beaten by Australia's Ariarne Titmus and won silver at the 2020 Olympics. The 27-year-old focused on 800m and 1500m freestyle events afterward while Titmus broke her world record in the 400m freestyle in 2022.

When the duo met at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was an evenly poised contest but Ledecky came home third in 4:00.86 while the Australian won gold in 3:57.49 with the American receiving a fair share of criticism online for a seemingly slow performance. However, Michael Phelps came to her defense.

"You have to give credit where credit's due. She's setting records every single day. Moving forward, she's coming into her bread and butter events. The events she has dominated her whole career. This race will be something she will put behind her, and really start to generate that focus towards the upcoming events," Michael Phelps said (via NBC).

Ledecky proved Phelps right, winning her second consecutive gold medal in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle, including an Olympic record performance in the latter.