It would be pretty hard to have missed Katie Ledecky swim to a medal at the Olympic Games. Her specialty is distance freestyle and she has won more medals than any woman in history in the swimming pool.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was researching to explain how a two beat kick could be used in sprinting however it is predominantly used by distance swimmers. To my surprise, as I observed the queen of freestyle endurance, that she did not kick in a typical way.

Typically the two beat kick style is a way of swimming similar to marching. One kick per arm pull, or with the opposite leg to the corresponding opposite arm. This keeps a swimmer in balance.

Ledecky has devised her own way. I speculate that this simply evolved as she grew up and it was never changed into a typical way. Just because it worked.

Ledecky kicks with a two beat kick but kicks two times with one leg. Her other leg simply holds her position and balances her. A clip here to visualise it;

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxIFmdwtc_zRNDgjmrZyM212rHFvSsbvdE?si=5kAX2OGd-jpXT6lJ

And a better clip of her kick;

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxt7kQD5J6hKKxU9pCAlJ7NF4YyoHA3Y__?si=TQ-WFNJvhdAr2y1z

You can see she switches also to a quicker kick from time to time to speed up. She has two styles of kicking; her unique single leg two beat kick and also a normal six beat. (If you can’t access the link go to 500m mark of her 800 in Paris in the final).

Is this a style to be copied? I’m not sure, it might be unique to her, but with four consecutive Olympic gold medals to drag around a pool it might be something for coaches to think about!

She is gliding through the water in perfect balance with the least effort possible only kicking with one leg. Then on last 100m she fires up her legs and does a six beat kick As they say in Canada: ‘beauty eh!’

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