The evolution of Katie Ledecky: As Olympics near, U.S. star comes full circle

Follow our Olympics coverage in the lead-up to the Paris Games.

In April, Bruce Gemmell received a phone call from someone who had changed his life more than a decade ago. They text frequently, so it wasn’t strange to hear from her. But what she asked of him made him laugh.

Katie Ledecky’s first question was quintessential Katie: Hey, I’m coming home to Maryland for a few days in May. Can I train with you?

An easy yes from her old swim coach.

Then: Oh, by the way, when I’m home, I’m going to the White House to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I’m hoping you’d be free to come as my guest. I don’t want to impose or anything.

“She really said it that way,” Gemmell said, chuckling. “I said, ‘Yes, of course, I would love to go.’”

Heading into the day, he figured the coolest part would be meeting President Joe Biden; Gemmell is a Delaware native, and his wife had interned for then-Senator Biden at one point. It’d be a nice little full-circle moment.

But Gemmell’s main takeaway was something different, something far more significant to the man who had trained the most dominant female swimmer in the sport’s history…