Olympic Champ Battles Invisible Illness While Dominating Pool
By Movieguide® Contributor
Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky has been defeating a lot more than just Olympic competitors.
The gold medalist has spent the last nine years battling an invisible illness. In her recent memoir “Just Add Water: My Swimming Life,” Ledecky revealed her battle with POTS, a nervous system disorder that has become more prevalent since the COVID pandemic.
Ledecky’s memoir explains, “I pool blood in the vessels below my heart when I stand. My body then releases extra norepinephrine or epinephrine, which adds additional stressors on my heart, making it beat faster. Which, in turn, brings on dizziness, fainting, and exhaustion.”
The Cleveland Clinic describes POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, as “a condition that causes a number of symptoms when you transition from lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue.”
When a POTS patient stands up, their heart rises a minimum of 40 beats per minute, usually more, and they develop other uncomfortable symptoms. The condition mainly affects women of childbearing age, although anyone can get it. Dysautonomia International shared, “POTS is a major women’s health issue impacting an estimated 3-6M Americans and millions of others around the world. 85-95% of POTS patients are female.”
Some POTS patients have symptoms so severe that they are completely disabled, while others have only mild symptoms.
Ledecky developed POTS in 2015 while in Russia for the World Aquatics Championships. TODAY reported, “One evening after dinner, she felt unusually hot and lightheaded. In the days and weeks that followed, she endured episodes of extreme fatigue and dizziness, sometimes feeling faint even during simple activities like walking. These troubling symptoms eventually led to a surprising diagnosis: POTS.”
Ledecky opened up about how she manages her condition.
“I’ve had it under control completely. I really just had to add salt to my diet and wear compression gear. Whenever I get sick and when I go to hot environments, I need to be especially careful to stay on top of my salt and hydration,” she said. “I thought it was important to tell my whole story, and that was a part of my story, especially leading up to the 2016 Olympics. It was a new thing that I had to acknowledge and be aware of, something that was always in the back of my mind. I wanted to share how that’s impacted me at different points and how I’ve been able to push through that and take control of that part and live a healthy lifestyle.”
Despite her diagnosis, Ledecky has dominated the pool at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Movieguide® reported:
Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky has hit a new milestone that she should be proud of. She is now the most decorated female Olympian in U.S. history.
The 27-year-old athlete from Maryland received another silver medal last week for the 4×200-meter relay and now holds 13 Olympic medals, making her not only the most decorated U.S. female but the most awarded female swimmer in Olympic history.
Following Ledecky are Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin, other swimmers who currently hold 12 medals each.
Behind Ledecky’s wins comes a heart of humility. She explained how she’s thankful to be a part of the event and looks up to Olympians who have gone before her.
