Michael Phelps praises Florida Gators swimming after Katie Ledecky wins gold in Paris

The GOAT of swimming gave high praise for the training group that is assembled in Gainesville
Former U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps and current U.S. Olympian Nic Fink, speak with a crew member. Go behind the scenes with NBC's TODAY show at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Former U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps and current U.S. Olympian Nic Fink, speak with a crew member. Go behind the scenes with NBC's TODAY show at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Sandy Hooper / USA TODAY NETWORK
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If you were to ask someone to name a swimmer, Michael Phelps would be the first name that comes to mind for many people. The 23-time Olympic gold medalist retired after the 2016 Olympics and has been doing television work for NBC during the Paris Olympics.

While watching another great sport win another gold medal, Phelps gave a shoutout to one of the greatest swimming programs in all of America.

Florida Gators: Everything School

Katie Ledecky won a gold medal yesterday in the 1500 meter freestyle. As is normally the case with Ledecky races, the rest of the field wasn't in the frame of the camera when she touched the wall to finish. Of the top 20 times ever in the event, Ledecky has all 20.

While Ledecky swam in college at Stanford, she has made her way to Gainesville and is considered a volunteer coach with the Gators swimming team.

As your reminder, Katie Ledecky is a coach on Florida’s swim team

Posted by Hail Florida Hail on Wednesday, July 31, 2024

By doing so, she is able to also train in Florida's pool under the guidance of Anthonty Nesty, Florida's head coach and the head coach for Team USA at these Olympics. After her race, Ledecky made sure to give a shoutout to her Gainesville based training group.

In turn, Phelps also acknowledged the work being done in the Gators pool.

"To be able to do that and to still be kind of in the moment almost celebrating that gold medal with them, I think it's so powerful. She's got a great training group down there at the University of Florida. Those guys ball. Those guys can really train."

Michael Phelps

Ledecky's medal now makes four medals at these Olympics for swimmers who have ties to the Florida Gators. And with track and field set to get underway there are plenty of other opportunities for Florida to keep racking up the medals.

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