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Many of the eyes of those who stayed up late to watch Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky race, belong to students at Liberty High. Ledecky, who is still a teen (19), inspired the Olympic hopefuls at Liberty like sophomore Marjori Russo.

“She’s a relatable, humble girl. Like a lot of the other Olympians are like, ‘Yeah, I’m the best of the best!’ and Katie is just like, ‘Yeah, I’m just doing this because this is what I love to do,” Russo said.

Though Russo and fellow Lady Eagle swimmer, senior Eva Herling, adore Ledecky, they found it fair that Ledecky won the smaller headline after breaking the world record and Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps won the headline after tying with silver on the same day.

“To be honest, I think it’s amazing that she’s even in it (the newspaper). Honestly, you think of Katie Ledecky and people are like, ‘Who?’ but, you know, you say Phelps and people are like, ‘Oh, I know him, I know who you’re talking about.’” Herling said.

“And I think the main reason why people thought Phelps’ win was like so important, not because he tied for silver, but because it was a three way tie for silver and it has never happened, I don’t think in history, where everyone in the same heat ties for silver, like a three-way tie with all the same time, that’s just like unheard of,” Herling said.

Another three-way tie occurred in London in 2012, where three athletes tied for bronze in the high jump, but because of Michael Phelps’ popularity, the significance of the tie rose above Ledecky’s world record. Not only this brought attention to Ledecky, but her pure talent as well.

Ledecky, being 19, is shocking young swimmers all around the world with her abilities and her humbleness, but her positivity as well.

“I also think that they’re (Ledecky) positive. Even if they may have a bad race one day, they’re not gonna let that stop them. With Simone Manuel, it’s not like she was aiming for the gold and whenever she got there, she was flabbergasted, she was so excited,” Herling said.

This forceful positivity behind Ledecky’s successful career is summed up in her own words.

“I try to make the good days great and take something positive from the bad days I’m not feeling good – work on technique or something like that.”