Katie Ledecky is determined to make a splash in and out of the pool. As she celebrates the confidence and competitive spirit that exists in women as the face of BIC’s “Game On” campaign, the gold medalist is also championing gender equality in swimming. It’s no secret that there could be more gender equality in sports, and there’s one area of the summer Olympics that Ledecky’s been hoping would change for a while now.

For the first time at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, women, Ledecky included, will be able to compete in the 1500 freestyle like their male counterparts. The Team USA swimmer told Parade.com “it’s really exciting” that the 1500 free is an Olympic event for women this year. “

For so many years in the Olympics the 1500 free was not a women’s event,” Ledecky explained. “The 800 free was the longest race for women, whereas for the men the 1500 free was an Olympic event and the history of it is that apparently whoever started the Olympics or added the events didn’t think that women could compete at a high level in the 1500.”

Read more (via Parade.com)