Katie Ledecky got her start in swimming because she just wanted to make friends. Her brother was eager to join a team at a pool near their house and as a 6-year-old, she tagged along.
By summer's end, the Ledecky siblings had made 100 friends ranging in age from 6 to 18. Some of them remain good friends with Katie, who went on to become the world's best swimmer in the post-Michael Phelps era.
She earned five golds and a silver at this year's world championships in Budapest, maintaining the upward trajectory she first established as a surprise gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
Her dominant performance in Hungary earned Ledecky Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year honors.
In balloting by U.S. editors and news directors announced Tuesday, Ledecky received 351 points, edging out Serena Williams with 343. Williams won the Australian Open for her Open era-record 23rd Grand Slam tennis title. Olympic track star Allyson Felix finished third in voting with 248 points.
Last year, Ledecky was second to gymnast Simone Biles in the balloting.
Ledecky is the eighth female swimmer to win and the first since Amy Van Dyken in 1996. Among the others is 1969 winner Debbie Meyer. At last year's Rio de Janeiro Games, Ledecky equaled Meyer's feat of sweeping the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles in a single Olympics.
"It's a really great history of women swimmers and freestylers," Ledecky said of the AP honor roll. "I really look up to a lot of those women."
She is the first active college athlete to win since UConn basketball player Rebecca Lobo in 1995.
Ledecky is a sophomore at Stanford, still debating whether to major in psychology or political science, and enjoying life in the dorms, where she lives with five other swimmers.
"Just being in the college environment has kind of added another layer of fun," she said. "Being with teammates and working toward NCAA championships and having that team goal, that's another thing that is fun."
Ledecky heads to Colorado Springs, Colo., for high-altitude training with her Stanford team this week. Her focus is on the collegiate season through the NCAAs in March.
In moving cross country from her home in Bethesda, Md., to attend college in California, Ledecky left behind longtime coach Bruce Gemmell. But like some of those old summer league teammates, Ledecky has stayed in touch. She trains with Gemmell when she returns to visit her family.
She was a star to them in 2012 but a little-known 15-year-old to the rest of the world when she won the 800-meter freestyle in world-record time in London.
In 2013, Ledecky won four golds at the worlds in Barcelona, setting a pair of world records. Two years later in Kazan, she swept every freestyle from 200 to 1,500 meters, setting two more world records. Another two world records fell last year in Rio.
In her typically understated way, Ledecky said: "I really pride myself on the consistency I've had over the past couple years. Just being able to compete at the international level and come away with some gold medals each year."
Ledecky didn't set any personal bests or world records in Budapest, something she's done with such frequency that people expect to witness something spectacular anytime she dives in the pool.
Her loss in the 200 free in Hungary was considered an upset.
"If they're disappointed with me not breaking a world record, it's an honor because it's representative of what I've done in the past and a benchmark for myself," she said. "I don't focus on what anyone thinks of my goals or wants to see me do."
Not yet halfway toward the 2020 Tokyo Games, Ledecky already is thinking ahead. Like Phelps, she never publicly reveals her target times or placements.
"I set big goals for myself and that's always what has motivated me," she said.
Ledecky enjoys the journey, something she learned between London and Rio.
"Trying to find those little things to improve on and the process of getting better," she said. "Doing everything in practice to set yourself up well each year."
Her friendly demeanor belies the competitor who is always plotting ahead and moving forward ever faster.
"I know the four years goes by very quickly," Ledecky said, "and I want to do everything I can to prepare."
AP female athletes of the year
2017 Katie Ledecky, swimming
2016 Simone Biles, gymnastics
2015 Serena Williams, tennis
2014 Mo’ne Davis, baseball-x
2013 Serena Williams, tennis
2012 Gabby Douglas, gymnastics
2011 Abby Wambach, soccer
2010 Lindsey Vonn, skiing
2009 Serena Williams, tennis
2008 Candace Parker, basketball
2007 Lorena Ochoa, golf
2006 Lorena Ochoa, golf-x
2005 Annika Sorenstam, golf
2004 Annika Sorenstam, golf
2003 Annika Sorenstam, golf
2002 Serena Williams, tennis
2001 Jennifer Capriati, tennis
2000 Marion Jones, track
1999 U.S. Soccer Team
1998 Se Ri Pak, golf
1997 Martina Hingis, tennis
1996 Amy Van Dyken, swimming
1995 Rebecca Lobo, basketball
1994 Bonnie Blair, speedskating
1993 Sheryl Swoopes, basketball
1992 Monica Seles, tennis
1991 Monica Seles, tennis
1990 Beth Daniel, golf
1989 Steffi Graf, tennis
1988 Florence Griffith Joyner, track and field
1987 Jackie Joyner-Kersee, track and field
1986 Martina Navratilova, tennis
1985 Nancy Lopez, golf
1984 Mary Lou Retton, gymnastics
1983 Martina Navratilova, tennis
1982 Mary Decker Tabb, track
1981 Tracy Austin, tennis-x
1980 Chris Evert Lloyd, tennis
1979 Tracy Austin, tennis
1978 Nancy Lopez, golf
1977 Chris Evert, tennis
1976 Nadia Comaneci, gymnastics
1975 Chris Evert, tennis
1974 Chris Evert, tennis
1973 Billie Jean King, tennis
1972 Olga Korbut, gymnastics
1971 Evonne Goolagong, tennis
1970 Chi Cheng, track
1969 Debbie Meyer, swimming
1968 Peggy Fleming, figure skating
1967 Billie Jean King, tennis
1966 Kathy Whitworth, golf
1965 Kathy Whitworth, golf
1964 Mickey Wright, golf
1963 Mickey Wright, golf
1962 Dawn Fraser, swimming
1961 Wilma Rudolph, track
1960 Wilma Rudolph, track
1959 Maria Bueno, tennis
1958 Althea Gibson, tennis
1957 Althea Gibson, tennis
1956 Pat McCormick, diving
1955 Patty Berg, golf
1954 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf
1953 Maureen Connolly, tennis
1952 Maureen Connolly, tennis
1951 Maureen Connolly, tennis
1950 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf
1949 Marlene Bauer, golf
1948 Fanny Blankers-Koen, track
1947 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf
1946 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf
1945 Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf-x
1944 Ann Curtis, swimming
1943 Patty Berg, golf
1942 Gloria Callen, swimming
1941 Betty Hicks Newell, golf
1940 Alice Marble, tennis
1939 Alice Marble, tennis
1938 Patty Berg, golf
1937 Katherine Rawls, swimming
1936 Helen Stephens, track-x
1935 Helen Wills Moody, tennis
1934 Virginia Van Wie, golf
1933 Helen Jacobs, tennis
1932 Babe Didrikson, track
1931 Helene Madison, swimming
x-both male and female winner were from the same sport
Sports on 12/27/2017