Ledecky’s gold with Catholic faith

US swimmer Katie Ledecky, the youngest swimmer ever to win Olympic gold when she won the 800m freestyle on Friday evening, is a student at a Catholic school who prays before every race and has a special devotion to St Anne.

Ledecky, who has been swimming competitively since the age of 6, attends Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Washington DC.

Before leaving for London, she told  the Catholic Standard, archdiocesan newspaper of Washington, that her strong Catholic faith keeps her focused on God and what matters most in life.

“I always pray right before a race. The prayer I say is the Hail Mary. I also love going to Mass every week. It’s a great chance to reflect and connect with God. [My faith] has been a big part of my life since I was born,” she said.

She has a special devotion to St Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin, and, since her birthday is on March 17, to St. Patrick.

She and her family are parishioners of the church of the Little Flower, Bethesda. Her godfather is Fr Jim Shea SJ, the Maryland provincial of the Jesuits. She counts her family, which includes her dad, David, her mom, Mary Gen, and her 18-year-old brother, Michael, as among her greatest role models and boosters, she said. “They never pushed me too hard. They’ve been so supportive with everything,” she said.

In her interview she credited the example of  the sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who taught her at Little Flower School in Bethesda, saying they were “great role models and were a big part of my faith growing up”.

At her high school she serves, time permitting, on the Stone Ridge Campus Ministry Board which helps plan school Masses, service projects and builds up the Catholic faith at the school. “It’s been great. I love being able to do that,” she said.

Stone Ridge’s website lists all her swimming accomplishments and even has T-shirts available:””Ledecky Team USA. London 2012. A Stone Ridge Girl.”

“Everyone is extremely excited for Katie. This couldn’t happen to a more deserving young lady,” Dwayne Bryant, Stone Ridge’s athletic director, told The Standard. “She’s a regular, sweet kid, and the true definition of a student athlete. Sometimes when you meet an athlete who is that good, they want you to know it. Not Katie. She is a person who is about who she is, not about what she can do,” he said.