| At the 2024 Paris Olympics this week, Katie Ledecky won the 1500-meter freestyle race, making her the most dominant female swimmer in history.
The 1500-meter race is a grueling 15-minute test of endurance in which swimmers sprint 30 laps in an Olympic-size pool. During a post-win interview, a reporter asked Katie about the race and what goes through her mind as she swims. Katie responded, “My mind started wandering as I was racing. I was thinking of everyone who has supported me all these years. I was thinking of all the people who have trained with me, just saying their names in my head. So many great [people] have helped me get to this moment.” That makes sense – no one gets to these milestone moments alone. As the stands erupted in cheers, Katie meditated on her mentors! So, who mentored Katie Ledecky? Reading her new memoir, Just Add Water, it’s easy to wonder, who didn’t mentor Katie? Every chapter highlights numerous individuals Katie credits for having influenced, guided, coached, encouraged, advised, championed, validated, challenged, and rooted for her since she learned to swim at age six. Even the Acknowledgements section at the end of the book reads like an Oscar acceptance speech! One of her coaches, Bruce, was so instrumental in accelerating her success that she dedicated an entire chapter to her experience working with him. After winning her first gold medal at the Olympics at age 15, Katie joined a new swim team led by coach Bruce Gemmel. Bruce was an engineer turned swim coach, and he trained her from that perspective. Bruce offered Katie a fresh start and a mindset shift. His meticulous planning and technical approach improved her swimming by recalibrating her tempo. But more than anything, he became a mentor. “The biggest thing Bruce did for me was to help me think bigger.” Bruce gave Katie permission to aim big, anything-is-possible big. She wrote in her memoir, “Bruce knew me better than I knew myself.” While Katie no longer swims on that team, she often reconnects with Bruce “to seek guidance about swimming, about life. He’s always willing to listen. He never oversteps.” Before every race, Bruce would tell her, “Have fun.” He taught her that life is short and everything can change instantly. Watching Katie compete, listening to her interviews, and reading her memoir, it’s evident that “having fun” permeates her approach in practice, during races, and in life. In her young but illustrious career, Katie has discovered the secret sauce to professional success: audacious goals, unwavering discipline, abundant mentoring, and unhindered joy. © 2024. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. |