Six months ago Katie Ledecky was doing what Olympic record breakers do: hitting the pool daily, perfecting technique, staying focused and coachable.

But during our Zoom call last December, the Maryland swimmer and recent Stanford graduate was relaxed and jovial, smiling ear-to-ear. Then, I asked her what might sound like a stock question:“What does a world class swimmer like yourself do to keep up her form?” I said, before getting anything but a stock answer.

“Each day I work on getting better, and even the bad days have something good that comes out of them,” Ledecky said. “One thing my coaches say is that I fail spectacularly in practice —and that’s something that I actually work toward.”

By “failing spectacularly,” Ledecky means that every practice is about pushing herself far beyond her comfort zone. Each practice is about not just shaving off a half or quarter second from her personal best swim time, but going even further beyond that; beyond what she thinks is possible.

Read more (via Forbes.com)