The Accidental World Record

On August 3, 2015, American swimming prodigy Katie Ledecky broke her own world record in the 1500-meter freestyle. The 18-year-old accomplished this feat during a preliminary heat at the World Championship in Kazan, Russia. The amazing thing about this world record is Ledecky wasn’t trying to get it. Rather, she just happened to break a world record. Her approach? Try Easy!

Because it was a preliminary heat and not the finals, Ledecky completely detached from the outcome. She eased back on her effort and focused on swimming smoothly to preserve some of her energy for the finals.

“My coach told me to swim the first 900 meters easy, build over the next 300, then the final 300 was my choice. And to be honest, it felt pretty easy…I am pretty shocked I was able to do that. I was barely even focusing on this morning’s swim. I was just so relaxed,” Ledecky shared after the race.

Right after she finished, looked up at the scoreboard, and saw her time, Ledecky smiled, glanced at her coach, and gave a little shrug as if to say she was just as surprised as anyone she had broken the world record. Try Easy!