Katie Ledecky Met Michael Jordan As A Kid

Move over, Michael Phelps. There's a new star swimmer on Team USA. At a mere 19 years old, Katie Ledecky has already won gold at two Olympics, and is working to break a nearly 50-year record by winning the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter gold medals in one year. She also seems to have been raised for fame, based on this tweet of Ledecky with Michael Jordan.

The three-time gold medalist rubbed her two-year-old shoulders with Jordan when attending a Washington Wizards game as a toddler. Her uncle owned a stake in the Wizards, and Ledecky shared a box seat with Jordan while watching a game. Not bad for a two-year-old, I'd say.

This adorable photo contains a wild juxtaposition, as viewers know that in 18 years, Ledecky would go on to win at least one more Olympic gold medal than Jordan. Her non-Olympic resume is also intimidating. In 2015, she became "the first swimmer to win 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyles in a major competition" at the FINA (swimming's international federation) World Championships, and has broken more of her own records than can easily be listed. She currently holds three world records in free swimming for varying distances.

Dubbed "the Michael Jordan of swimming" by The Washington Post for her poise and hilarious finger wag, Ledecky had more than one brush with fame prior to become a star swimmer. At a mere 16 months old, Ledecky made a cameo on The Today Show, and seemed to be very bored with host Al Roker. The Daily Mail also noted that Ledecky's mom, Mary Gen, swam for the University of New Mexico, and her brother Michael swam for Harvard, proving that aquatics runs in the family.

Ledecky also met Phelps at an autograph signing in 2006. Who could have known that ten years later, Phelps would say that Ledecky reminds him of himself "back in the day." He spoke warmly of Ledecky ahead of the U.S. Olympic team trials in Omaha, Nebraska:

Every time she gets in the water, it’s like a world record. She is improving so much, and I think she is just trying to push that barrier, and I think it’s pretty exciting to watch her do that. Her stroke is phenomenal, how she transitions, and now the walls are great, her kick is great. She does the work, and it shows.

Ledecky is still early in her career, and is likely to win even bigger during the Rio Olympics and in the future. And now that her two chance meetings with two world-class athletes are resurfacing, it's clear that she's meant to reign among them.