Maya Di Rado of the USA also swims in the 200m individual medley; Along with Michael Phelps and Ledecky, the Stanford grad is one of three US swimmers racing in three individual events. And even then she had spent the week overlooked until halfway through the 800 free when the world realized the youngest member of the entire U.S. Olympic delegation was about to win Olympic gold. “She’s not Superwoman, but she’s pretty darned super”. Stanford’s Lia Neal, Allison Schmitt, and Amanda Weir will also receive silvers.
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She certainly will when she starts at the school after these Olympic Games, as she will have become one of the most recognizable athletes in America. That set the stage for a homestretch showdown with Cate Campbell, the world record holder in the 100m free, who pulled away from Ledecky in leading her team to a world record time of 3:30.65.
“I honestly didn’t even see her, she was so far ahead”, DiRado said.
“It’s just insane that I’ve been able to swim two seconds faster than anyone else ever did”, she told reporters.
“You can probably pick three or four teams that are going to have a chance to win that relay”, Phelps said.
The 22-year-old from Maryland, who swam the fastest time in Saturday’s prelims, trailed by almost three seconds at the halfway point but came back strongly on the breaststroke leg to push Hagino to the limit.
The U.S. team was made up of Simone Manuel, Abby Weitzeil, Dana Vollmer and Katie Ledecky. She easily advanced to the semis Saturday night.
“That’s something I’ve had the privilege to be a part of since 2004, and I’m hoping to have the opportunity again”, Phelps said. “I think that bodes well for the rest of the week”. Nathan Adrian will be defending his title (assuming he makes it through the heats), but he’ll have competition from Australia’s Cameron McEvoy.
Japanese teammates Daiya Seto and Kosuke Hagino were second and third, while American Jay Litherland was fourth in making the final. They raced in the preliminaries to also earn silver medals along with Stanford star Simone Manuel and incoming Cal freshman Abbey Weitzeil, who gave the United States a lead midway through the race. The race was for silver and the USA won it.
“I was very nervous, my mind wasn’t where it was supposed to be”, he said.
The niece of Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and Maryland native was set to start her individual runs at gold with the 400-meter freestyle, followed by the 200-meter freestyle on Monday and her best event, the 800-meter freestyle on Thursday. After the prelims, she had no idea how fast her split was.
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Uncle Jon was there for that, and he recently said he was planning to go to Rio to watch his 19-year-old niece, with little fear of the Zika virus or with the overwhelming threat of insecurity. It’s a completely different race, a splash-and-dash versus the events in which Ledecky excel – technical, highly-strategic back-and-forths that take so long NBC could take a commercial break and you wouldn’t miss anything. Any combination of five medals and she will tie Missy Franklin’s London record for a female swimmer.
