“I'm not really at same level as Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky”- Kate Douglass weighs in on harsh reality of making money as professional swimmer

Kate Douglass stated that she didn't reach the success level of Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, who have been showered with brand endorsements and also earned from major events like the Olympics. Douglass also shared that she became financially stable after her global success but swimming does not pay as much to continue the career for long.

The University of Virginia alumna earned bronze in the 200m individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The same year, she won two golds in the 4x50m and 4x100m freestyle events at the World Short Course Championships. The 22-year-old also made waves in the NCAA, having won seven titles at the 2022 NCAA Championships and repeating the feat in the 2023 edition.

Douglass continued the momentum, winning two golds at the 2023 World Championship and adding two more at the 2024 event. She proved her prowess at the Paris Games, where she clinched the 200m breaststroke and 4x100m medley title.

Despite the success, Douglass talked about not having reached the level of multiple world record holders, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. Though she received prize money with her Olympic and World medals, she addressed the financial uncertainty of the sport, unlike Golf and Tennis, had she been pursuing swimming like a regular job. She said on the People I (Mostly) Admire podcast:

"I definitely have more money right now than I would if I had just a regular job like most of my friends, but it's not something that is, you know, going to keep me afloat for a while. At some point I am going to have to move on because I think the thing with prize money and trying to live off of it is also you have no idea going into the year how much you're going to end up making at the end of the summer. Yeah, for swimming it could be a decent amount, but it could also be something very minimal."

Douglass added:

"Unfortunately I'm not really at the same level as Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky, but yeah, they're definitely doing just fine."

Kate Douglass broke her first individual world record at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup

Kate Douglass after winning the 200m breaststroke at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: (Source: Getty)

As the Swimming World Cup took a stop in Incheon, South Korea, Kate Douglass clocked 2:14.16 in the 200m short-course breaststroke to break her career-first individual world record. Her effort lowered the time of Rebecca Soni, who held it for 15 years.

After the race, Douglass shared that she didn't expect the world-record-breaking feat to happen.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that.That was a very old record, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get it." she said, via Forbes.

For her NCAA success, the New York-born received the Honda Sports Award in 2022 and 2023. Kate Douglass also received a couple of accolades from CSCAA and SwimSwam.