Katie Ledecky college: ACC takes questionable victory lap after Stanford grad sets record at 2024 Olympics

For those who have forgotten, the landscape of college sports is completely changing for the 2024-25 season. There were a plethora of conference changes over the last year, with realignment taking over a majority of the major conferences. 

Undoubtedly, the group impacted the most was the Pac-12. The West Coast-based conference went from 12 members down to just two, as certain schools were poached to the Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC. One of those schools with a new home is Stanford. The prestigious California-based university is now a member of the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). Yes, we see the irony. 

While the Cardinal has yet to play any games under the ACC banner, the conference already is beginning to claim athletes as their own.

The ACC’s X account, formerly Twitter, posted a congratulatory graphic of USA swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won her first gold medal at the 2024 Olympics when she finished first in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle race. Ledecky swam collegiately at Stanford, which was then under the Pac-12 banners – making the ACC’s post all the more confusing. 

— The ACC (@theACC) July 31, 2024The hashtag “OlympiansMadeHere” is particularly chuckle-worthy considering Ledecky was quite literally not made by the ACC, but the Pac-12. It would be like if NFL running back Christian McCaffery won a Super Bowl, and the ACC celebrated him as one of their own athletes. 

It’s allowed the internet to have a field day, poking fun at the conference for even considering taking Ledecky as one of its own.

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
Full Olympics schedule | How to watch in USA | Meet NBC’s broadcasters

Where did Katie Ledecky go to college?Ledecky went to college at Stanford from 2016-18. She only attended the university for two years before becoming a full-time professional swimmer.

While at Stanford, Ledecky won eight NCAA championships, claiming titles in the 200y free, 500y free, 1650y free, and 400y free relay as a freshman, and the 500y free, 1650y free, and 800y free relay as a sophomore. She shattered records in the 500y, 1000y, 1650y, 400m, and 800m free races, as well as the 1500m free relay.

Stanford may be a part of the ACC now, but it wasn’t when Ledecky was a student-athlete at the university. It makes the conference’s decision to post about her gold medal all the more confusing. 

BEST U.S. OLYMPIANS
Top 33 rankings | Simone Biles | Katie Ledecky | Jesse Owens

Olympic women’s 1500-meter freestyle resultsThe Sporting News tracked Ledecky’s results from the 1500-meter freestyle race in Paris. 

PlaceSwimmerTime1Katie Ledecky (USA) —15:30.02 (OR)2Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (France)15:40.353Isabel Gose (Germany) —15:41.164Simona Quadarella (Italy) —15:44.055Li Bingjie (China) —16:01.036Moesha Johnson (Australia)16:02.707Beatriz Dizotti (Brazil)16:02.868Leonie Maertens (Germany) —16:12.57