It happened in a split second. I was sitting near the edge of my parents&#8217; pool, watching my daughter and chatting with a friend when I turned to talk — just for a moment.
&#8220;Did Abby just go under?&#8221; my friend interrupted my sentence. 
My heart dropped. My daughter&#8217;s head was bobbing just below the surface. I jumped in, pulled her out, and held her shaking body against mine while a terrifying could have pinged through my mind.
&#8220;It&#8217;s okay, Ericka, it was only a second,&#8221; my friend told me. It didn&#8217;t help. In that instant, I viscerally understood how any parent, no matter how vigilant, could lose a child to drowning.
I was lucky. Christi Brown was not. Her three-year-old son, Judah, had already taken traditional swim lessons and was wearing a puddle jumper at the pool. He took it off to dry, but jumped back in the pool without it — thinking he was safe because he was used to a flotation device. She found him underwater minutes later, and Judah died that day.
&#8220;All they taught him at the age of three was to be confident in the water, without teaching him competence in it,&#8221; Brown told me of her son’s past swimming lessons. 
That distinction — confidence versus competence — is the whole argument for why every parent of a young child should seriously consider infant survival swim lessons. These lessons are easily identified on social media by striking videos of young children being tossed into the water, where they immediately roll onto their backs and float, a technique designed to help them survive an accidental fall into a pool. 
The videos can be shocking to watch. Despite their controversial nature, I believe it’s worth the cost to potentially save your child’s life. 
Recently, influencer Emilie Kiser lost her three-year-old son, Trigg, to a drowning accident, which has caused many moms to reconsider safety measures. But Kiser isn’t alone; there are drowning incidents reported every week in this country, especially in the summer months. 
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages one to four, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7320e1.htm">the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report</a> that drowning rates in that age group jumped roughly 28% in 2021 and 2022 compared with 2019. 
It doesn&#8217;t look like the movies. Kids don&#8217;t thrash and yell; they just quietly go under in a silent tragedy. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s remarkably undramatic in nature, and most of the time it&#8217;s not recognized by people who are watching swimmers,&#8221; ER physician Dr. Scott Youngquist <a href="https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/all/2024/07/what-does-drowning-look">said</a>. 
Survival swimming lessons train children as young as six months to float unassisted and swim to safety if they fall in unexpectedly. 
I spoke with <a href="https://pediaswim.com/">Pediaswim founder Joy McGinty</a>, one of the method&#8217;s best-known practitioners, and she doesn&#8217;t mince words about the flotation devices most parents rely on instead. A puddle jumper, she says, is &#8220;like cocaine — because it can kill&#8221; a child by giving him false confidence.
 &#8220;With a huge percentage of kids that drown, if you ask a parent what is the last picture they have of their kid alive, they&#8217;re in a puddle jumper,&#8221; she said. Someone took it off, and the child jumped back in without it. That is precisely what happened to Judah.
I know the skepticism firsthand — because I hesitated too. My son started traditional lessons at age one; two years and three different swim schools later, he still couldn&#8217;t have saved himself if he fell in.
<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/swimming-lessons-save-lives-what-parents-should-know-201806151630">Harvard health expert</a> Dr. Claire McCarthy, M.D., has noted that children under five simply aren&#8217;t cognitively or physically ready to learn conventional swimming. Survival swimming exists precisely because of that gap.
Critics raise real questions, and parents deserve to hear them squarely. Some object to the brief distress babies show in early sessions, calling it traumatic. Others point out that infants under one most often drown in bathtubs — a risk survival swimming doesn&#8217;t address. 
Dr. Clay Jones has argued <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/summer-is-here-and-infant-swimming-programs-are-still-unproven/">in Science-Based Medicine</a> that the marketing oversells the method and that it&#8217;s wrong to place &#8220;the onus of drowning prevention on an infant.&#8221; Concerns about so-called &#8220;dry drowning&#8221; circulate too, though <a href="https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/resources/articles/dry-or-delayed-secondary-drowning?srsltid=AfmBOorxuEdfQzgMCyaJ_5AGEZoDszHwZI268cyLwkUStRZSdlUtZaTT">the Red Cross has pushed back</a> on sensationalized reporting that it says has needlessly terrified parents.
These are fair points to weigh, not reasons to dismiss the method outright. No one — least of all instructors like McGinty — claims survival swimming replaces supervision. It&#8217;s a last line of defense, not a substitute for watching your kids. 
&#8220;You don&#8217;t want your kid to have to use this skill,&#8221; my sister Shelby Gil, who left a nursing career to become a certified instructor, told me, &#8220;but you can know that they will have skills to save their own life if they need to.&#8221;
Unfortunately, the lessons aren&#8217;t cheap or convenient. They can run $75 to $300 a week, and instructors are somewhat scarce outside places such as Florida where pools stay open year-round. I drove 25 minutes each way, five days a week, for six weeks of ten-minute sessions.
Nonprofits like <a href="https://judahbrownproject.org/">the Judah Brown Project</a> (created in honor of the Judah in this story), McGinty&#8217;s Gift of Swimming, and <a href="https://www.hopefloats.foundation/">Hope Floats</a> now offer scholarships precisely because families keep learning about this option only after tragedy strikes nearby — a pattern that repeats itself, town by town, drowning by drowning.
When I finally enrolled my daughter, I braced for tears. Instead, she came to enjoy her lessons and her teacher. On the last day, her instructor had us dress her in boots, a jacket, and gloves — because real emergencies don&#8217;t happen in swimsuits — and she jumped in fully clothed. She floated, and I felt safer knowing she’ll always know how to do that now. 
&#8220;Don&#8217;t be us,” said Judah’s mom, Cristi. “We don&#8217;t want you to live the rest of your life without your child.&#8221; 
It’s not about guilt or shame. It’s a warning worth heeding and an investment worth making.
***
Ericka Andersen is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freely-Sober-Rethinking-Alcohol-Through/dp/1514013363/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freely Sober: Rethinking Alcohol Through the Lens of Faith</a>” (InterVarsity Press, 2026)
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

GettyImages-1309421929

The Pool Safety Myth That Could Cost A Child’s Life

Children

Safety

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Upstream

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American youth sports programs have gained a reputation for being toxic to kids and families, but one league in the South is bucking the trend.
The Swim Association Invitational League in Greenville County, South Carolina, is a recreational swim league where kids at every competitive level learn about discipline, hard work, and handling pressure through the joy of athletic competition. The league is a community bedrock that has brought swimmers and families together for over 60 years and become a quintessential part of summer for thousands.
Three years ago, my family and I left the suburbs of Philadelphia and relocated to Greenville County. Shortly before we moved, I discovered my daughter, who was 7, had an interest in swimming. This was a big deal because for months I’d unsuccessfully tried to find a sport she loved, and after signing her up for soccer, basketball, and softball, I&#8217;d only found that she hated running. But when she participated in a two-week swim program at our local high school and took to the water like a fish, I knew I&#8217;d finally found her sport.
I’m adamant about my kids participating in youth sports because I was an athlete and know sports can be an incredible environment for kids to learn about discipline, perseverance, and teamwork while developing healthy physical habits. Through the highs and lows of playing sports, I learned about handling pressure and overcoming adversity, which were valuable lessons I carried into adulthood. Science <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12220085/#Sec17">backs up</a> the benefits of youth sports <a href="https://odphp.health.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/YSS_Report_OnePager_2020-08-31_web.pdf">participation</a>, which increases physical health while buffering the impacts of stress and anxiety.
But American youth sports have undergone a major mindset shift since I was an athlete. Youth sports have become a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/business/youth-sports-private-equity.html?eafs_enabled=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$40 billion industry</a>, and the low-pressure recreational leagues of the past focused on development and fun have largely been replaced by early sport specialization and high-stakes travel teams. This so-called <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/business/youth-sports-stress.html?eafs_enabled=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“professionalization of youth sports”</a> is causing overuse injuries, athlete burnout, and financial strain for families, threatening to nullify many of the benefits kids gain by playing sports. It&#8217;s also pushing kids to opt out of participating altogether. The American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/aap-voices/calling-timeout-an-extended-one/?srsltid=AfmBOop2bZH0CnZDN87Mj5-of-V4hrKu7k9pQCmQhCL5u-C_RaFmXHAU">estimates</a> that 70% of kids have quit sports altogether by age 13. Too many young athletes are stressed and overworked during a time they should be having fun while playing a sport they love.
The summer SAIL league in Greenville has managed to buck these negative trends and is proof you can still create a competitive, positive youth sport culture in 2026. The SAIL swim <a href="https://sail.swimtopia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">league</a> includes over 30 neighborhood-based teams that collectively represent more than 4,500 swimmers, ages 6-18, from over 1,700 families. Many teams are coached by college students, who are often former SAIL swimmers, and practice is held twice a day for almost two months at the neighborhood&#8217;s pool. I first learned of the league from veteran swim team moms who told me joining a SAIL team would be a huge investment of time and energy but confidently assured  me, “It will all be worth it.” Our family took the plunge and joined a team at the start of our first summer living in Greenville.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1146673" style="width: 856px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1146673" class="wp-image-1146673 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-846x576.jpg" alt="" width="846" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-846x576.jpg 846w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-768x523.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-1536x1046.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/IMG_4692-1-2048x1395.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px" />Final race of the night. Photo by Meg Brock.</div>
As a new swim team mom, I quickly discovered summer swim meets are four to six hours of beautiful and overwhelming chaos. Hundreds of kids are running around barefoot, almost indistinguishable in their matching bathing suits and swim caps, playing and laughing together while waiting to swim their races. Parents, who are required to volunteer at every meet, hover at the edge of the pool clutching stopwatches as they try to capture the precise second a swimmer touches the wall. A loud &#8220;take your mark&#8221; repeats over and over again as swimmers in a never-ending line jump off the starting blocks before a cheering crowd. It’s loud, energetic, and overstimulating, but somehow it all works.
Outside of the pool deck is a sprawling encampment of canopies, kids, and camping chairs that rivals any tailgate party you’d find on game day outside of a professional stadium (minus the alcohol). At my first swim meet, I made the rookie mistake of only bringing along two camping chairs. I&#8217;ve since adopted the mindset of bringing everything my family would need for an overnight camping trip, including food, water, foldable chairs, battery-powered fans, and a canopy for shelter.
The meets have 80 events, and each swimmer can sign up for three races and has the chance to make two relay teams, which altogether adds up to just two to six minutes per swimmer — not a lot of time for the amount of effort put in.
Summer swim allows kids at every level, whether they can barely make it across the pool or are elite all-year swimmers, to compete on the same team. New swimmers race against their own personal best while top swimmers race against each other to win and score points for their team. Everyone has something to aim for and the chance to leave the meet feeling like they accomplished something, even if they finished dead last. Every kid, not only the very athletic or single-sport specialized, has the opportunity to compete, grow, and learn valuable lessons. Swim team also gives structure and purpose to the unanchored days of summer and inoculates kids from developing a case of perpetual summer boredom.
In addition to practices and meets, the team brings kids and families together through social events such as movie outings, family meals, and a nostalgic Fourth of July celebration. It provided our entire family with a sense of community when we had just moved to a new place and really needed it. It&#8217;s the only youth sport league I’ve been a part of that brings families together instead of pushing everyone in different directions.
Sometimes at the end of a home meet, the entire team of swimmers, from teens to first graders, jumps into the pool at the same time to celebrate a win. It’s a kind of wholesome fun and feeling of community you usually only see in movies. I’m so thankful my kids have been able to experience it in real life. After three years of being a summer swim team mom, I understand why thousands of families have devoted two months of their summer to this beloved tradition for over 60 years.
Greenville isn’t the only place where this magic happens. There are amazing recreational summer swim leagues all across the country. If you are looking for ways to build up kids and community, I wholeheartedly recommend diving into summer swim. You’ll likely find a youth sports culture you didn’t think still existed and that the practices, the long meets, and all that sweating in the sun will be worth it. It might just become your favorite part of summer. It&#8217;s become mine.
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

May 30 2025 (1 of 1)-2

The Youth Sports Tradition Defying America’s Broken System

Americana

Parenting

summer

youth sports

Today on &#8220;Dystopia Now,&#8221; we take a look at something called the Enhanced Games, where nearly 40 athletes compete while doped up on performance-enhancing substances. You can catch them at Resorts World Las Vegas in late May.
A Legion of Doom-worthy coalition of tech billionaires is funding the Enhanced Games, including Peter Thiel, the Winklevoss twins, Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, and Donald Trump Jr. According to their materials, it’s &#8220;a diversified revenue model designed to capitalize on the growing global demand for sports entertainment, performance enhancement and longevity products.&#8221;
As Richard Dawson said in &#8220;The Running Man,&#8221; “Without further ado, it’s time to start running!”
A major driver behind the Enhanced Games is German tech billionaire Christian Angermayer, the author of the Next Human Agenda. He is <a href="https://christianangermayer.substack.com/p/the-future-is-enhanced">pushing the games</a> as &#8220;a significant economic driver for the biotech pharma industry in the years ahead.&#8221;
 If the Enhanced Games sounds suspiciously like an advertisement for Compound V, the superhuman-making substance in &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; it should. This isn’t a sports gambit — it’s an advertisement for the “longevity” industry, based on big tech’s obsession with expanding the human lifespan and human vitality. 
The problem is, Compound V can create metahumans like Homelander, who is a total psychopath but is essentially evil Superman, but it can also create people with the power to shoot octopi out of their butts, or some such thing. We know that these substances aren’t steroids or cocaine, but we don’t know much else about them, or about their long-term effects. The Enhanced Games is promising sprint records, but A-Train, the super-sprinter on &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; has extreme heart issues and a dependency on Compound V.
Some athletes — who are either being paid very well, desperate for glory, or both — don’t seem to care. Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev broke a 50-meter freestyle world record in an Enhanced Games trial last year, making a million dollars in the process. As Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josipamajic/2026/04/06/pro-doping-enhanced-games-raise-12-billion-before-a-single-race/">reported</a> this week, “Irish swimmer Max McCusker, also an Olympian, said publicly that his decision to join was a &#8220;no-brainer&#8221; after earning less than $10,000 across four years of professional swimming.”
<div id="attachment_1076275" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076275" class="size-large wp-image-1076275" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1024x549.jpg" alt="Screenshot: Enhanced Games/YouTube.com" width="1024" height="549" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1024x549.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-300x161.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-768x411.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1536x823.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II.jpg 1960w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: Enhanced Games/YouTube.com</div>
So what&#8217;s the endgame? Clearly, life expansion is a mantra of the day, slotting in alongside at-home helper robots, personalized flight, Mars colonization, and the AI singularity. We seem to be heading toward a bifurcated, Gattaca-like future, with “optimized” people at the top of the pyramid and a vast mass of suboptimal people at the bottom, Elois performing feats of strength at Resorts World for an audience of barely human Morlocks.
All this reminds me of the opening credits of the “Six Million Dollar Man,” “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability of making the world’s first bionic man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.” (Of course, today, six million is rounding error).
This future is actually kind of appealing, even interesting. We should at least try to see if the current billionaire obsession with hyperbaric cold plunges and blood transfusions and liquid megavitamins and genetic manipulation works. My own program of fish-oil pills, probiotics, not eating like crap, and standing on my head a few times a week seems to be working just fine, but I haven’t really started into the peak of my decline yet.
The real test of Enhanced Games technology won’t be how it affects super-swimmers or Olympic sprinters, who are already close to Peak Personhood. When they start injecting nootropics into people like me, to see if they can make the Substack posts a little snarkier and the decision-making at the $400 No-Limit Hold Em poker tournaments a little smarter, then we’ll see how well it works. Just remember that, sure, there are a lot of super-people in &#8220;The Boys.&#8221; But most of them end up with exploding heads.
* * *
Neal Pollack, “the greatest living American writer,” is the author of 12 semi-bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction and is a three-time “Jeopardy!” champion.

enhanced games

The Enhanced Games And The Billionaire Dream Of Superhumans

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Humor

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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier held a press conference Tuesday demanding U.S. Masters Swimming rescind its policy allowing biological males to swim in female events or face legal action.
&#8220;Today, we called on U.S. Masters Swimming, a Florida-based nonprofit, to immediately cease allowing any men to compete against women,&#8221; Uthmeier said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;We will always fight to protect women and girls from being subjected to men trying to compete in female sports — it&#8217;s our moral obligation to do so,&#8221; the attorney general said.
https://x.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/1945184936308199847
U.S. Masters must &#8220;quickly certify in writing&#8221; that they will ensure no men participate with women, Uthmeier said.
&#8220;If they don&#8217;t do so then we will pursue additional legal action,&#8221; he said.
The amateur sports organization for adult swimmers is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, and has 60,000 members.
U.S. Masters Swimming recently updated its policy after the attorney general of Texas <a href="https://swimswam.com/texas-attorney-general-announces-investigation-into-u-s-masters-swimming/">launched</a> an investigation when a trans-identifying male swimmer blew his female competitors away at this year&#8217;s Spring Nationals in San Antonio.
The 47-year-old man who identifies as a woman, Ana Caldas, won five women&#8217;s events, sparking angry calls for U.S. Masters Swimming to change its rules.
The organization&#8217;s <a href="https://www.usms.org/volunteer-central/policy-and-governance/usms-policies/transgender-swimmer-inclusion">old policy</a> allowed trans-identifying males to compete on the women&#8217;s team as long as they had been on estrogen for a year and had testosterone below a certain level. Males who did not meet these requirements were also allowed to swim in the women&#8217;s races, but their performance did not count in the competition.
However, on July 1, U.S. Masters Swimming enacted a new &#8220;interim eligibility <a href="https://www.usms.org/volunteer-central/policy-and-governance/usms-policies/interim-eligibility-policy">policy</a>,&#8221; which bars trans-identifying males from competing in the women&#8217;s category, but they may still swim in the women&#8217;s races.
Uthmeier says the new policy &#8220;purports to protect women&#8217;s sports, but it does not get the job done.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not acceptable. It does not fly with Florida law,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We will use every tool at our disposal from our civil rights laws to our anti-discrimination laws to our consumer protection laws to ensure that we are protecting women and girls.&#8221;
Besides fairness in competition, another issue is safety in the locker rooms, the attorney general said.
&#8220;As these ladies can tell you later, the other aspect here is the safety issues of having men in women&#8217;s locker rooms,&#8221; Uthmeier said. &#8220;We will not tolerate it. We will hold you accountable if you are going to endanger our women and girls.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not right. It still seems insane to me that we&#8217;re having this conversation in this country, but we will always fight for what&#8217;s right in Florida. We&#8217;re the state where woke goes to die,&#8221; the attorney general said. &#8220;I believe this is a moral cause, and more importantly what&#8217;s happening is unlawful under state law.&#8221;
Several athletic organizations have backed down and changed their policies after President Donald Trump, surrounded by smiling young girls wearing sports uniforms, signed an order banning trans-identifying males from girls&#8217; sports.
One of those was the NCAA, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ncaa-backs-down-changes-transgender-athlete-policy-after-trump-order">changed</a> its policy to ban trans-identifying males on women&#8217;s teams less than 24 hours after Trump&#8217;s order.
The NCAA attracted controversy for its swimming competitions when trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas defeated the University of Kentucky&#8217;s Riley Gaines, who has become an advocate for women&#8217;s sports.
U.S. Masters Swimming has several events coming up in Florida, including the 2025 Rob Curry Pancake Pentathlon in September in the Orlando area.

US-NEWS-FLA-AG-IMMIGRATION-JUDGE-OS

Florida AG Threatens Legal Action Against Swimming Organization That Lets Men In Women’s Races

Florida AG Threatens Legal Action Against U.S. Masters Swimming Over Trans Males In Women's Races

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A trans-identifying male competed in the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship meet, and he took gold medals in every event he entered — in the 45-49 age group of the women&#8217;s division.
<a href="https://www.usms.org/comp/meets/meetsearch.php?c=1221718&amp;MeetID=20250424SpNatsY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ana Caldas</a>, who has also raced under the names Hannah Caldas and Hugo Caldas, swam in five individual events and three relays over the course of the four-day competition in San Antonio — and won every individual race: the 50 yard freestyle, the 100 yard freestyle, the 50 yard breaststroke, and the 100 yard breaststroke. Caldas came in a full three seconds ahead of the second place finisher in the 100 yard freestyle, and four seconds ahead in the 50 and 100 yard breaststroke events.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) reached out to the U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) board after Caldas won his first individual event on Friday, referencing the body&#8217;s stated rules — which require trans-identifying male swimmers to have received hormone therapy and to show proof of testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L — and saying that was hardly enough to protect the female athletes who were losing medals and opportunities to men.
&#8220;Transparency in these matters is critical to maintaining the integrity of the competition and the trust of all USMS athletes. There is no length of time during which testosterone suppression eliminates male advantage; therefore it should not serve as a guideline permitting men to compete in women’s swimming. At a minimum, it is USMS’s responsibility to enforce its current policy,&#8221; the letter read, in part.
&#8220;He’s just laughing at these women,&#8221; an ICONS spokeswoman said.
As <a href="https://reduxx.info/trans-identified-male-swimmer-dominates-womens-events-at-the-u-s-masters-spring-championships/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reduxx reported</a>, it is not clear whether or not Caldas&#8217; competitors knew that he was male:
<blockquote>&#8230;he has been competing as a woman in swimming, rowing, and Crossfit for decades, and has been careful to conceal his previous identity. However, Caldas’ birth name is still listed on multiple research papers he co-authored as an academic, and in <a href="https://prod.wp.cdn.aws.wfu.edu/sites/275/2018/10/gb2009-2010.pdf">records from Wake Forest University</a> where he was a <a href="https://archive.is/E3zqW">member of the faculty</a>. Caldas also co-applied for a <a href="https://archive.ph/sUmQf">patent in 2004</a> using the names “Hugo” and “Hannah.”</blockquote>
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines shared the story via X, adding, &#8220;A man who goes by the name Ana swam five events at the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship. He won them all. Real life South Park episode.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A man who goes by the name Ana swam five events at the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship.
He won them all.
Real life South Park episode. 
<a href="https://t.co/Mw2jL9BukD">https://t.co/Mw2jL9BukD</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1916987679603908676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;INSANITY. At this weekend’s U.S. Masters Spring National Championships, Hugo &#8216;Ana&#8217; Caldas, a male athlete, took first place in 5 Women’s individual events. Here he is crushing the Women&#8217;s breast stroke 45-49 category, winning by a full 3 seconds, in a time of 29.74. Anyone who competes in swimming at the national level knows this is unheard of in a 50 yard race where wins are often measured in a tenth or a hundredth of a second,&#8221; Beth Bourne added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨🚨INSANITY. At this weekend’s U.S. Masters Spring National Championships, Hugo “Ana” Caldas, a male athlete, took first place in 5 Women’s individual events.
Here he is crushing the Women&#8217;s breast stroke 45-49 category, winning by a full 3 seconds, in a time of 29.74.… <a href="https://t.co/EPfuFe6wOh">pic.twitter.com/EPfuFe6wOh</a>
— Beth Bourne (@bourne_beth2345) <a href="https://twitter.com/bourne_beth2345/status/1916587569598595106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Michael Jordan at 60 years old could suit up today and be the best &#8216;WOMAN&#8217; in the @wnba and maybe THEN the stupid people in the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship would SEE THEIR OWN INSANITY!&#8221; Rob Schneider posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Michael Jordan at 60 years old could suit up today and be the best “WOMAN” in the <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WNBA</a> and maybe THEN the stupid people in the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship would SEE THEIR OWN INSANITY! <a href="https://t.co/I1Tdwh5gi7">https://t.co/I1Tdwh5gi7</a>
— Rob Schneider 🇺🇸 (@RobSchneider) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobSchneider/status/1917255362866266307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A swimmer warms up before a meet at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Trans-Identifying Male Sweeps Women’s Events At U.S. Masters Swim National Championships

Social Issues

Transgender Athletes

U.S.

The Trump administration demanded on Tuesday that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ncaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA</a> strip the records and awards of the male athletes who competed in female sports at the collegiate and high school levels because of their transgender identity.
The Department of Education wrote a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) demanding that they take action to restore the awards, records, and titles that female athletes would have won had they not been displaced by male athletes who identified as female.
“The NCAA and NFHS should also immediately act to rectify the injustices that female athletes across the nation endured during the years that NCAA and NFHS policies promoted and facilitated men competing on women’s teams,” Deputy General Council Candice Jackson wrote.
The letter, written to NCAA President Charlie Baker and NFHS President Bob Lombardi, said that the Education Department would be enforcing Title IX to “hold educational institutions accountable for depriving female athletes of the awards, records, points, prizes, titles, trophies, announcements or other recognition assigned in favor of male athletes who were allowed to compete in female sports.”
This would mean stripping male athletes who identified as female, like University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who won the women’s NCAA Division 1 championship in the 500-yard freestyle, of their accolades.
“Whether the number of records in women’s events attributed to men is 1 or 1 million, every official record of women’s performances must accurately reflect the achievements of female athletes, not of male ones,” Jackson wrote.
Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas, and shared a fifth place result with him at the women’s 200-meter NCAA championships back in 2022, praised the Education Department.
“Restoring stolen athletic accolades to their rightful owners is a crucial step towards reinstating accountability, integrity, and common sense – one that I wholeheartedly support,” she said.
The letter also pointed to an executive order from President Donald Trump that strips funding from schools that force female athletes to compete with males and instructs the Education Department to enforce Title IX against schools that allow trans-identifying males in women’s sports or force girls to share locker rooms with males. One day later, the NCAA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ncaa-backs-down-changes-transgender-athlete-policy-after-trump-order" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its policy</a> to keep sports segregated by sex.
“While NCAA has amended its policy to state that a male may not compete for a women’s team, officially correcting the records is another critical step in rectifying the miscarriage of justice against female athletes allowed under the Biden Administration and giving female athletes the recognition they rightfully earned,” Senior Advisor for the Office of Communication in the Department of Education Julie Hartman told The Daily Wire.

NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Trump Admin Tells NCAA To Strip Records Of Male Athletes Who Competed In Women’s Sports

College sports

Department of Education

Donald Trump

Lia Thomas

NCAA

Politics

Riley Gaines

Trump Administration

Women's sports

Former U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/olympics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Olympic swimmer</a> Gary Hall Jr. said he lost all 10 of his Olympic medals after his home was destroyed in the Palisades fire as the blaze in Los Angeles continued to rage.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/sport/gary-hall-jr-loses-olympic-medals-in-palisades-wildfire-spt/index.html">CNN</a>, Hall said that when they were told to evacuate due to the multiple wildfires in Southern California, he thought he had more time, but found out very quickly he had to get out and save himself rather than gather the medals and other personal belongings.
“I saw the fire charging down the hill and knew that I had to get out of there,” the Olympic swimmer said. “I opened up the back of my SUV, I loaded a painting, one other object. By the time I was going back in from that run, hot embers were raining down from the sky.”
“I knew at that point that I just didn’t have much time,” he added. “I could see the embers hitting the roofs of the houses around me and made that decision: it’s time to go. The medals were in a closet in my bedroom, 70 feet away, and I didn’t have time to go get them.”
“From the time that I saw the first plume of smoke at the top of the hill … I had about three minutes between then and when it came charging toward me,” Hall continued. “It wasn’t easy to leave that behind. I worked a lifetime to achieve that, and the memories remain but the souvenir is gone.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Gary Hall Jr. won 10 Olympic medals in the water. Then he lost them in the Palisades fire <a href="https://t.co/BjbYiuZWzT">https://t.co/BjbYiuZWzT</a>
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1877812921280893032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
Representing the U.S. at the Olympics in 1996, 2000, and 2004, Hall Jr. had not only won ten Olympic medals, including five gold, but also six world championship medals (three gold and three silver) during his career, all of which are gone now.
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Diagnosed in 1999 with Type 1 Diabetes, Hall also described to CNN some of the terrifying scenes of the day he had to get out as the fires completely engulfed the area due to the high-speed Santa Ana winds.
“I was one of the first hill evacuees to make it into the village,” Hall said. “There was one other car of a person that had fled in the parking lot, surrounded by five pre-schools, elementary schools, kindergartens and schools still in session and you could see it went from an idyllic, peaceful Palisades village, descending into mayhem and panic.”
“There were people screaming, cars driving up on the sidewalk,” he added. “Imagine the desperation of a parent trying to get to their child in time to get them from the school and to safety. So you have cars blowing through stop signs, red lights, crashes happening and people running in every direction.”
A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-gary-hall-jr-after-devastating-fire">GoFundMe</a> page has been set up to help Hall Jr.
“Gary Jr. lost his home and his livelihood in the devastating Palisades Fire on January 7th,” a statement on the site reads. “Gary saw flames out his window while he was at home before collecting his dog, Puddles, his insulin, a painting of his grandfather, and a religious wooden piece his daughter Gigi gave him and drove towards the ocean as quickly as possible.”
“He was forced to leave behind everything else he owned, such as irreplaceable family heirlooms, photos, and more,” the statement added. “He has also most likely lost his ten Olympic medals, but nothing can take away his spirit that won those medals.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anna-faris-adam-brody-mandy-moore-become-latest-celebs-to-lose-homes-in-socal-fires" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anna Faris, Adam Brody, Mandy Moore Become Latest Celebs To Lose Homes In SoCal Fires</a>

Palisades fires

Former U.S. Olympic Swimmer Says He Lost All 10 Of His Olympic Medals In SoCal Fires

California

Fire

Los Angeles

Natural Disaster

Wildfires

Former American collegiate swimmer Ali Truwit proves never giving up pays off after she ended up recently taking home the silver twice in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/olympics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paralympics</a>, 16 months after she lost her leg in a shark attack.
The 24-year-old swimmer competed in Paris and took home the silver in the <a href="https://x.com/TeamUSA/status/1832102781433606469">women&#8217;s 100m backstroke S10</a> on September 6 and the women’s S10 <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/27/sport/katie-ledecky-ariarne-titmus-swimming-paris-olympics/index.html">400-meter freestyle</a>, setting a new American record in the latter with a time of 4:31.39, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/06/sport/ali-truwit-swimming-shark-paralympics-spt-intl/index.html?Date=20240906&amp;Profile=CNN,CNN+International&amp;utm_content=1725625428&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0wtnPnbI02FZf6qpxrrkBqJuvIwv_GToJEphjujId_TWsunETfStoHJZo_aem_z7jzA8HtSZso3DRtsFo4vg">CNN</a> reported.
“It’s a real full circle moment and speaks to the support I have all around me,” Truwit told members of the press after her race. “When you are truly faced with death and you understand what a second chance at life means, you want to make the most of it.”
“Every day there is something new for me that I learn that kind of evokes a new memory from the attack,” she added. “Because I was conscious the whole time. Truthfully, at the start I thought it was going to be something where I overcame the fear and that was it.”
&#8220;I have learned from this journey that that is not what this journey looks like,” Truwit continued. “That there will be days it’s great and there will be days I have to fight to get that love back. But I would say I am at 90:10 right now of really feeling comfortable and happy in the water and I am thankful to be there.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ali Truwit is simply incredible 🌟<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisParalympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ParisParalympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/m970lHnAer">pic.twitter.com/m970lHnAer</a>
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/1831831411390894364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
In May 2023, Truwit was on vacation swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Turks and Caicos when she was attacked by the shark. She managed to fight off the animal and then swim some 70 meters to a boat before she was airlifted to the hospital, CNN noted.
“I think it was survival instinct. It was a terrible day, it’s a terrible memory. It was shocking, terrifying, but I am alive, I am here and I am going to make the most of it,” Truwit said.
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Doctors were able to save her life, but the swimmer ended up losing her foot and part of her leg in the attack. She underwent three surgeries and six months later, she got back in the water and now is a two-time silver medalist.
Truwit couldn’t have gotten where she is today without that persistence, but credits those closest to her, her friends and family, with helping her make it.
“Sophie, who was in the water with me and tied the tourniquet on my leg and saved my life, is in the stands, as well as Hannah, who was the one who was in medical school rotation at the trauma hospital I was airlifted to,” Truwit said after the race. “I am so lucky for them and all the others in the stands.”
“I think my parents have done an incredible job raising me and my three brothers to be adaptable, to try and look for the positives in life and appreciate all we have been given,” she added. &#8220;So, when I was faced with a life-changing trauma, I worked to see the positive and focus on gratitude and let that carry me.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-wraps-up-olympic-swimming-with-another-gold-medal-and-a-new-world-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Wraps Up Olympic Swimming With Another Gold Medal And A New World Record</a>

Alexandra Truwit

American Paralympic Swimmer Takes Silver, Sets New Record 16 Months After Losing Leg To Shark

General

Paris

Paris Olympics

World

Former collegiate swimmer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/riley-gaines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Riley Gaines</a> tore into Georgia Tech President, Dr. Angel Cabrera, for failing to intervene when it became clear that the NCAA was going to allow a biological male to not only compete against the females, but to have full access to their locker rooms while they were changing as well.
Gaines spoke on Tuesday before the Georgia General Assembly’s Special Committee on Protecting Women’s Sports, where she called Cabrera out for allowing trans-identifying swimmer Lia Thomas to compete against and change alongside the women who had worked their entire lives to get to the NCAA championship. Prior to her appearance, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/riley-gaines-rips-georgia-tech-president-remarks-lawmakers-why-didnt-you-protect-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News Digital</a> obtained a copy of her prepared remarks.
&#8220;Dr. Cabrera, you knew that a 6’4&#8243; fully intact man was coming to compete against me, my teammates, and my competitors in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming &amp; Diving National Championships. Do you have a daughter? You could have stopped it, you could have at least said, ‘not here, not on the campus of Georgia Tech University,’ but you did not,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;You had the chance at the outset to bring a sane, rational, science-based perspective to the protection of women’s sport, but you looked the other way, and you did nothing. Why didn’t you intervene? The scientific evidence for immense male performance advantages in sport is overwhelming — I don&#8217;t have to explain that to you or this committee, but you ignored the science to the harm of women.&#8221;
Gaines went on to say that officials had known Thomas, still a fully-intact male, would be changing in close proximity to the women — and that they would have no ability to escape the situation.
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&#8220;This was intentional, premeditated, sexual harassment, and it happened right here, in the capitol city of the State of Georgia, just a few blocks away the grounds of Georgia Tech University,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;Because you did nothing, that man walked into the women’s locker room at your university and saw me undressed down to nothing. I did not even know he had access to the women’s locker room until I heard a man’s voice and turned around and saw him a few feet in front of me, and I was unclothed. You allowed college women to be traumatized on your campus in this way. Why didn’t you protect me? Why didn’t you protect us?&#8221;
Gaines called on Cabrera to respond, saying that the Georgia Tech President could &#8220;redeem&#8221; himself by speaking up now, adding, &#8220;Thousands of women across this country and hundreds of girls who dream of swimming for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and more broadly who dream of competing in sports at all look forward to your response.&#8221;

2024 Folds Of Honor Tennessee Rock N’ Jock Celebrity Softball Game

‘Why Didn’t You Protect Us?’ Riley Gaines Demands Accountability From Georgia Tech President

'Why Didn't You Protect Us?' Riley Gaines Demands Accountability From Georgia Tech President

Georgia

The United States swim team wrapped up the final day of competition in the pool with a pair of gold medals and world records to go with them.
Long-distance freestyler Bobby Finke delivered the first of the two gold medals in the 1500-meter freestyle — the only individual gold medal earned by a male swimmer on Team U.S.A. — and a new world record of 14:30.67.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BOBBY FINKE HAS DONE IT. 🫡
With a WORLD RECORD time, he successfully defends his Olympic title in the men&#8217;s 1500m free!
📺 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisOlympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ParisOlympics</a> on NBC and Peacock <a href="https://t.co/MBmwL7reEp">pic.twitter.com/MBmwL7reEp</a>
— NBC Olympics &amp; Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1820240849218818442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Katie Ledecky — whose prowess in the long distance races across four Olympic Games has made her the most decorated American female Olympian in history — couldn&#8217;t contain her excitement as Finke, who trains with her under coach and former Olympian Anthony Nesty, swam to victory.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Deranged Katie Ledecky cheering Bobby Finke’s 1500 win, wielding a cowbell like a weapon, is giving me life <a href="https://t.co/rmwolR9Ub9">pic.twitter.com/rmwolR9Ub9</a>
— Steve Cavendish (@scavendish) <a href="https://twitter.com/scavendish/status/1820144643830640883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The men&#8217;s 4&#215;100 medley relay team took the silver medal — the only time other than the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympics that a U.S. men&#8217;s team has not taken the gold in that event.
The team lost to China in a major upset despite an impressive split from Caeleb Dressel in his butterfly leg — 49.41, four hundredths of a second under his own world record in the 100-meter butterfly, which was set in Tokyo in 2021.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🇺🇸 Caeleb Dressel turning on the turbo for the team🚀 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a> <a href="https://t.co/8lnxhc3zlj">pic.twitter.com/8lnxhc3zlj</a>
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAquatics/status/1820150298620387824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The games concluded on another high for Team U.S.A. as the women&#8217;s medley relay team — Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly), and Torri Huske (freestyle) — took the gold by a decisive margin and set another world record in the process.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
TEAM USA CLOSES IT OUT WITH A GOLD. 🥇👏
In the final swim of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisOlympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ParisOlympics</a>, the United States DOMINATES the women&#8217;s 4x100m medley relay! <a href="https://t.co/ISAvsNwyef">pic.twitter.com/ISAvsNwyef</a>
— NBC Olympics &amp; Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1820153975267574165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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SWIMMING-OLY-PARIS-2024

U.S. Wraps Up Olympic Swimming With Another Gold Medal And A New World Record

China&#8217;s Pan Zhanle won a decisive victory in the men&#8217;s 100 freestyle on Wednesday, beating the rest of the field at the Olympic Games in Paris by a full second and setting a new world record — and immediately <a href="https://www.espn.ph/olympics/story/_/id/40696787/china-pan-zhanle-calls-other-olympic-swimmers-unfriendly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threw shade</a> at two of his competitors, Kyle Chalmers (AUS) and Jack Alexy (USA).
Pan finished the race in 46.40, knocking 0.4 off his previous world record time set earlier this year and the world championships in Doha, Qatar: &#8220;Today I finally beat them all. In such a challenging pool, I broke the world record. This is a tremendous performance and a great start for team China.&#8221;
But a short time after the race, he told reporters that some of the other swimmers had been less than friendly towards him.
&#8220;When I finished the 4&#215;100 freestyle relay the other day, I said &#8216;hi&#8217; to Chalmers, but he totally ignored me. Also [Jack] Alexy from the U.S. When we were training, our coach was standing by the poolside and he turned in such a way that the water splashed right onto the coach. I felt he looked down on us a little,&#8221; Pan said in an interview.
Chalmers, who won gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and had hoped to repeat that victory in Paris, finished just over a second behind Pan for the silver medal — but he did not recall any instance in which he had given the Chinese athlete the cold shoulder.
&#8220;I find it a bit weird. I gave him a fist pump before the relays &#8230; and then my focus went to my teammates and my own racing. We had a laugh together at warmdown last night, but no issues from my end,&#8221; he said.
Alexy, who finished seventh in Wednesday&#8217;s final, did not comment on Pan&#8217;s claim.
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As <a href="https://www.espn.ph/olympics/story/_/id/40696787/china-pan-zhanle-calls-other-olympic-swimmers-unfriendly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN reported</a>, &#8220;the Chinese swim team has been under intense scrutiny&#8221; leading up to the Paris Olympic Games after it was revealed that a number of athletes had tested positive for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/us/politics/china-swimmers-doping-food.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned substances</a> in 2021 but were still allowed to compete in the Tokyo Games. China has repeatedly blamed &#8220;contaminated food&#8221; when athletes test positive for banned substances.
For his part, Chalmers <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/08/01/sports/olympics-feud-erupts-between-chinese-world-record-holder-australian-american-rivals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not question</a> Pan&#8217;s Wednesday victory or his new world record: &#8220;For him to produce a 46.40 and break the world record in the Olympic final is incredible. I do everything I possibly can to win the race, and guess everyone’s doing the same as I am and staying true to the sport and integrity of sport. I trust that he’s done everything he possibly can to be there. And he deserves that gold medal. And I did everything I possibly could to challenge for that gold medal.&#8221;
American distance swimmer Katie Ledecky weighed in on the use of performance-enhancing substances before the Olympics, saying, &#8220;I hope everyone here (in Paris) is going to be competing clean this week. But what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world.&#8221;

Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Chinese Swimmer Smashes World Record, Throws Shade At Aussie And American Rivals

Australia

China

Communist China

American distance swimmer <a href="https://www.si.com/olympics/what-to-watch-paris-olympics-july-31-katie-ledecky-record-tying-medal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Ledecky</a> delivered a gold-medal performance in the 1500-meter freestyle on Wednesday, bringing her total Olympic medal count to 12 — and earning her entrance into an elite club with only three other members.
Just three other American women — all of them swimmers — have ever won 12 Olympic medals: <a href="https://usopm.org/jenny-thompson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jenny Thompson</a>, Dara Torres, and Natalie Coughlin.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Katie Ledecky wins her 12th Olympic medal.
This ties her with Natalie Coughlin, Jenny Thompson &amp; Dara Torres for the most by a US female swimmer 👏 <a href="https://t.co/HtWUfBHXzf">pic.twitter.com/HtWUfBHXzf</a>
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1818733436049539449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
Her win in Wednesday&#8217;s 1500 was not unexpected — she has not been beaten in that distance in more than a decade and held the top 19 times in the world prior to her Paris win— and it also tied her with Thompson for another record: with eight each, Ledecky and Thompson have the most Olympic gold medals of any American female in any sport.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Katie Ledecky: Pretty good at the 1500 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a> <a href="https://t.co/hCdKynGw25">pic.twitter.com/hCdKynGw25</a>
— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) <a href="https://twitter.com/mitchgoldich/status/1818727110971933033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Update: Katie Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest times in the history of the women&#8217;s 1500-meter freestyle,&#8221; The Athletic&#8217;s Nicole Auerbach added. &#8220;The one she just swam is No. 8 all-time.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Update: Katie Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest times in the history of the women&#8217;s 1500-meter freestyle.
The one she just swam is No. 8 all-time.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1818734478518264295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
Her Wednesday time, 15:30.02, was her 8th best of all-time and set a new Olympic record. She finished 17 seconds ahead of her closest competition.
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But Ledecky, with two races left to swim in the Paris Olympics, could still add to that count before the week is out. She is a heavy favorite to medal in the 800 freestyle, another event in which she has been a dominant force. She owns the top 16 times in that event as well, and has only lost that event once since 2010 — at 2024&#8217;s USA Swimming Southern Zone South Sectionals in Orlando — to Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh. McIntosh took silver in the 400 freestyle earlier in the week, finishing just ahead of Ledecky, who earned a bronze medal, and just behind Australia&#8217;s Ariarne Titmus.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Day Five

Katie Ledecky Ties Three Veteran Swimmers For Most Decorated American Female Olympian

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