In 1968, a teenager in North Dakota watched transfixed as Debbie Meyer won the 200, 400 and 800-meter freestyles at the Mexico City Olympics. The next time the teenager, already a competitive swimmer, got in the pool, she cut through the water repeating to herself, “I am Debbie Meyer.”
The teenager would grow up to become the mother of Katie Ledecky, who on Friday night became the first Olympian since Meyer to win the 200, 400 and 800. Ledecky completed the trifecta with a flourish, breaking her world record in the 800 with a clocking of 8 minutes 04.