Katie Ledecky: Ice Cream Was Close Enough
Excerpt from Katie Ledecky's memoir: Just Add Water (2024)
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
"Nakumbuka wakati mmoja nilipokuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na miwili, mama wangu aliona kitu kwenye tovuti ya USA Swimming kuhusu jinsi unapaswa kula maziwa-mtindi yenye mafuta kidogo kabla ya mazoezi, lakini kwa namna fulani aliamua aiskrimu ya chokoleti yenye mafuta kidogo ilikuwa karibu ya kutosha.
“Labda kulikuwa na mwaka mzima nilipokuwa nikipata aiskrimu ya chokoleti saa kumi na nusu asubuhi ya mapema [kabla ya alfajiri]. Ni moja ya mambo ambayo mimi hutazama nyuma na kucheka, lakini pia ninajiuliza ikiwa hiyo ilikuwa sehemu ya kile kilichorahisisha kuamka mapema sana. Ikiwa ndivyo, busara ilikuwa kitendo chenye akili kwa upande wa Mama.”
- Katie Ledecky, muogeleaji wa Marekani ambaye ameshinda medali 14 za Olimpiki na medali 26 za Ubingwa wa Dunia; alianza kuogelea akiwa na umri wa miaka 6 pamoja na kaka yake mkubwa.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“I remember one time when I was twelve, my mom saw something on USA Swimming’s website about how you should eat low-fat yogurt before practice, but somehow she decided low-fat chocolate ice cream was close enough.
“There was maybe a whole year when I was having chocolate ice cream at four-thirty in the morning. It’s one of those things that I look back on and laugh at, but I also wonder if that was part of what made it so easy for me to wake up that early. If so, genius move on Mom’s part.”
- Katie Ledecky, American swimmer who has won 14 Olympic medals and 26 World Championship medals; she started swimming at the age of 6 alongside her older brother.
Asante na tutaonana tena (Thank you and may we see each other again),
Mmerikani
Chanzo (source): Katie Ledecky. Just Add Water: My Swimming Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2024, page 181. Kindle Edition. Ledecky’s website is here.