Katie Ledecky's grueling Tokyo Olympics schedule could have her racing at least 6,000 meters

Katie Ledecky is now a three-time Olympian with six Olympic medals — five gold and one silver — but her most daunting lineup for the Games is ahead of her.

The 24-year-old American swimmer is the still the powerhouse athlete fans will remember from the 2016 Rio Games. But with the addition of her best event, the 1,500-meter freestyle, to the Olympic program this year, she’s about to swim a ridiculous amount in just seven days.

Individually, Ledecky qualified for her third Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle, the 400-meter freestyle, the 800-meter freestyle and the 1,500, also referred to as the mile. With relays, she could also become the first American woman to win five gold medals at a single Games.

Based on her individual events alone, she could end up racing 6,000 meters if she advances to the final in each event — which is very likely. To put that in perspective, a total of 6,000 meters is about 3.7 miles and not too far from the marathon swimmers who compete in the open-water 10K.

Did you know @katieledecky’s broken the world record in the 1500m free SIX times?

Well now she’s heading to its Olympic debut!@USASwimming | #SwimTrials21 x #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/YG81aEpnfQ

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) June 17, 2021

That’s an enormous amount, even for a distance swimmer but especially when compared with the sprinters, who swim no more than a few hundred meters total at most. But it highlights her versatility, as many swimmers cannot compete in both the mile and the 200 free.

“It’s a lot of training and a lot of practicing those races and that racing load,” Ledecky recently told For The Win, pointing to the Olympic Trials in June when she most recently competed in this lineup.

“It was good to just go through that and kind of remind myself of what that feels like and what the different races feel like in the context of swimming all of those races. … I really just kind of try to take it one race at a time, and I think I did a good job of that [at trials]. And I’ve done that in meets in preparation for the trials, so I feel like I have a good amount of experience behind me to lead me forward to the Games.”

With so many distance events, Ledecky sort of lucked out. The 200 free is her only individual event with a semifinal, while the 400, 800 and 1,500 go straight from the prelim heats to the final.

But Ledecky could actually end up swimming more when you factor in relays. It’s a safe bet she’ll be part of Team USA’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, but she also could be in the final for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

“I never set medal count goals or anything like that because I feel like that’s out of my control,” Ledecky said. “I can’t control if someone has some really fast swims and beats me and things like that. So I just tried to focus on my goal times and how I want to swim each of my races.”

Swimming fans know of Ledecky’s unbelievable dominance — though she will have some serious competition in the 200 and 400 freestyle events — but her lineup for the Tokyo Olympics is outrageous. Sunday, July 25 will be her first day of competition, and Monday, July 26 is probably her most grueling day.

Here’s a look at Ledecky’s likely individual schedule for the Games in both Japan Standard Time and Eastern Standard Time, which is sometimes the day prior.

Sunday, July 25
400 free heats — about 8 p.m. JST (7 a.m. ET)

Monday, July 26
400 free final — about 11:20 a.m. JST (10 p.m. ET, Sunday)
200 free heats — about 7 p.m. JST (6 a.m. ET)
1,500 free heats — about 7:50 p.m. JST (6:50 a.m. ET)

Tuesday, July 27
200 free semifinals — about 10:30 a.m. JST (9:30 p.m. ET, Monday)

Wednesday, July 28
200 free final — about 10:40 a.m. JST (9:40 p.m. ET, Tuesday)
1,500 free final — about 11:50 a.m. JST (10:50 p.m. ET, Tuesday)

Thursday, July 29
800 free heats — about 7 p.m. JST (6 a.m. ET)
*The 4×200-meter freestyle relay final is Thursday at about 12:30 p.m. JST, which is 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Saturday, July 31
800 free final — about 10:45 a.m. JST (9:45 p.m. ET, Friday)