There was a change of scenery that worked out well forKatie Ledecky.
The Associated Press Female athlete of the year was selected by a panel of 40 sportswriters and sports editors from news outlets across the country.
Ledecky was named the winner of the award for the second year in a row.
Ledecky got the nod because of 10 first place votes to McLaughlin's nine. A'ja Wilson is a basketball player.
Many great athletes have won this honor. I am excited about the future and I am happy with how my year went.
Ledecky, who won her first Olympic gold medal in 2012 at age 15, has stayed on top in women's freestyle swimming's longest pool events for the better part of a decade.
She has held the long-course world record in both the 800- and 1,500-meter free since the beginning of the year.
Ledecky won the 1,500 by more than 15 seconds and the 800 by more than 10 seconds. She was a member of the winning 4x200 free relay.
Ledecky had two more world records to add. Even though she doesn't compete in the 25-meter pool, she set short-course marks in the 800 and 1,500.
When no one is cheering her on, the real joy for Ledecky is when she and her coaches and teammates are alone.
She said that she loves the training more than the racing. I love the racing as well. I like practicing every day. When I wake up in the morning, I am excited.
Last year, after an Olympic performance that was a slight disappointment, Ledecky left coach Greg Meehan and the team with which she had competed and trained whileearning a psychology degree.
She wanted to get closer to her family in Washington, D.C. She was interested in the program that Anthony Nesty had built at the University of Florida.
Bobby Finke won gold in the 800 and 1,500 free at the Tokyo Olympics. An unexpected bronze was captured by another person.
Ledecky moved from Palo Alto to Florida.
She said it has been a lot of fun. This is where I want to be at this point in my career. I'm learning a lot as I train.
The program where she usually trains with the men seems to have pushed Ledecky to even greater heights.
One of the biggest challenges is making sure Ledecky doesn't train too hard.
The coach told her that the body is different once she gets older. I have to tell her that she's not old enough. The body won't last long. It's okay to slow it down when it's tired.
Other changes have arisen from moving to Florida.
According to Nesty, Ledecky now seems more willing to speak up, even holding her own in good-natured trash talk.
He said that the group is fun and competitive. She seems to have made a lot of noise. We need you to be with our group. She came out of her shell a little bit because of our group.
Ledecky said yes.
Guys are men. She smiled and said that they love to trash talk. I will poke a little fun at some of the guys. I'm happy in this environment.
At the Tokyo Games, women competed in the 1,500 free for the first time. She won the 800-1,500 double, but came up short in the shorter freestyle events.
Ledecky finished behind Titmus in the 400 and didn't win a medal in the 200.
Ledecky didn't win a medal in the Olympics.
She admitted that she would have liked to be better in Tokyo. I was swimming at the Olympics for the first time and I was also swimming the 200 free. I don't think anyone else was doing the same thing that the events were on the same day. It was a challenge I wanted to tackle for a long time. I don't think I'm regretting it.
Ledecky's fifth place finish was an outlier.
She has three silvers and seven golds. Ledecky has won 19 gold medals at the world championship.
She wants to go quicker.
Ledecky will likely compete in at least four events at the Paris games. She is looking forward to her home country in the Olympics.
She doesn't see why she can't stay on top when she's 31 years old.
Ledecky sets new goals for herself. Every year, I enjoy the process more. How do you stay at this level? It takes a long time to have your eyes set on something.
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