Bethesda’s Katie Ledecky just keeps chugging along, still excited about swimming after all these years

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� For Katie Ledecky, there is seemingly no such thing as burnout.

Sure, there are times when it all gets a bit monotonous, staring at that black line at the bottom of the pool, turning lap after interminable lap with nothing on the line.

Yet, a dozen years after she burst on the scene with a surprising gold medal at the London Olympics, to enjoy swimming as much as ever.

The times may not be quite as fast. But the ultimate payoff is year after year, Olympics after Olympics, even as other swimmers struggle to deal with of a grueling sport that only provides once-every-four-years gratification.

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Ledecky is one of the most consistent swimmers in history

鈥淚 pride myself on that consistency,鈥� the 27-year-old Ledecky, of Bethesda, Maryland, said. 鈥淚 challenge myself to stay consistent. Yeah, I mean sometimes it can be tough feeling like you鈥檙e not having a breakthrough. But to be really consistent is something I鈥檓 really happy with. I鈥檝e learned to just really enjoy each day of training and take in every moment and just appreciate the fact that I鈥檝e been able to have this long of a career, stay injury free, stay pretty healthy, be able to do this for this many years.鈥�

Perhaps the greatest freestyle swimmer history, Ledecky in a familiar role.

A gold-medal favorite. The focus of so much attention. The template for sustained excellence.

鈥淪uch a big influence,鈥� said fellow American swimmer Erin Gemmell, who has looked up to Ledecky much of her life and will be joining her as an Olympic teammate. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I would really be here if it weren鈥檛 for her.鈥�

Gemmell’s father used to coach Ledecky. Young Erin once for Halloween. They’ve spent so much time together at the pool, Gemmell has had a unique perspective on Ledecky’s tedious brilliance.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really special to be able to be that close to someone who is so inspirational, getting to see the day-to-day work that they put in,鈥� Gemmell said. 鈥淚t makes it seem more achievable, in a way, being so close. It makes them seem a lot more human.鈥�

Ledecky is no longer as dominant

Ledecky isn’t as dominant as she once was, but she’ll definitely be the swimmer to beat in the two longest freestyle events, covering 800 and 1,500 meters. She already has six individual gold medals, the most of any female swimmer in Olympic history.

鈥淓very athlete, as they get older, has to learn new ways to set goals, learn new ways to evaluate the results,鈥� Ledecky said.

In many ways, she’s still driven by her very first Summer Games, where she burst on the scene at 15 with a gold medal in the 800 freestyle. She provides further perspective on that experience in , 鈥淛ust Add Water, My Swimming Life.”

鈥淚 wanted to get back to that level, prove that I wasn鈥檛 just a one-hit wonder,” Ledecky said. 鈥淎t the same time, I reminded myself that anything more than that is just like icing on the cake, the cherry on top, because, I just never thought I鈥檇 make it to that one Olympics.鈥�

All these years later, after all those trips to the top of the medal podium, she feels much the same way.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the perspective that I鈥檝e be able to maintain and that keeps me focused and keeps me enjoying the sport so much, enjoying the teammates and the people that are around me,” Ledecky said.

She’s an old soul, for sure.

Even in her teens, Ledecky had young swimmers looking up to her.

鈥淚 was definitely an annoying child,鈥� Gemmell said, grinning. 鈥淏ut I think she was just so welcoming to a little 7-year-old fan. When I think about it, she was only a sophomore in high school at the time. I think if someone had acted like that towards me when I was a sophomore in high school, I would have been really weirded out. But she was kind and welcoming with all of it.鈥�

Eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Ledecky turned in one of the greatest performance in swimming history.

She took gold in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle with a pair of world records (the 1,500 was not yet an Olympic event for women, or she undoubtedly would’ve won that, too). For good measure, she anchored the U.S. to a gold in the 4×200 free relay with a time that was more than a second faster than anyone else in the final.

Ledecky isn’t a favorite in the shorter freestyle races

, the rest of the world began to catch up in the shorter races. For the first time, she was beaten in an individual race when in the 400. Ledecky didn’t even reach the podium in the 200, settling for fifth.

Ledecky doesn’t plan to swim the 200 free in Paris even though she won that event at the U.S. Olympic trials. She’s a definite underdog in the 400 free, where Titmus and Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh would appear to have the upper hand. McIntosh might even give Ledecky a run for the gold in the 800 free 鈥� an event Ledecky has won at the last three Olympics 鈥� after beating her at a low-level meet this year.

True to form, Ledecky shrugs off her rivals. She’s always looking inward, seeking ways to improve, and that monthlong gap between the trials and the Olympics is her favorite time of all. She can retreat to the anonymity of the training pool, where she feels most at home.

鈥淢y goals are not to be the first person to do this, to be the first person to do that and join this person and this person as the only ones that have done this,鈥� Ledecky said. 鈥淢y goals are very time focused and splits focused and technically focused.鈥�

It may not sound all that exciting to those on the outside, but it helps Ledecky feel much the same way as she did a dozen years ago, when she was that 15-year-old kid heading to her first Olympics.

Burnout?

Not a chance.

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