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Katie Ledecky ready to make her mark on Olympic swimming stage

USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Gemmell gets a glimpse of greatness every single day.

So when his star pupil, 19-year-old Katie Ledecky, dives into the pool and does something breathtaking — say, for instance, resetting her own world record in the women’s 800-meter freestyle in a meet in January — Gemmell gets to act like the calm, cool, collected coach who’s seen the magical moments so frequently they’ve become almost routine.

“The good thing is that I get to see them in practice first,” Gemmell said.