Should U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky want to swim collegiately for Stanford, which "has been her stated intention, it will cost her a lot of money," as she "almost certainly would be worth" upwards of $3M in endorsements leading up to the '16 Rio Games, according to Philip Hersh of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. That figure is based on "what she has done the past seven days at the World Championships" in Russia, where she took home five Gold Medals and set three world records. Baker Street Advertising Senior VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman in a text message wrote of Ledecky, "She'll be the top female swimmer going into Rio, the American poster girl, the woman most likely to bring home the most gold. And not turning pro could cost her around $3 million to $5 million in endorsement opportunities between now and Rio." Hersh wrote Ledecky and U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, who just turned pro, "likely will be the most promoted (by NBC and others) U.S. athletes heading to next August’s Summer Games." Fellow U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin "faced the same choice in the lead-up and aftermath" of the '12 London Games, where she won four gold medals. Her "delayed decision to go pro, which Franklin has repeatedly refused to second guess, may also have further financial consequences." She will "not go to Rio acclaimed as the next big thing, the way she had been at London." Dorfman said of the '16 Games, "Franklin will be a pro, and Ledecky apparently won't. So a good deal of the $3M or more in endorsement opportunities that Katie will miss out on could end up in Franklin's bank account instead" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/9).
THROWING WATER ON THE THOUGHT: In DC, Dave Sheinin noted before Ledecky's historic performance at the World Championships, no female swimmer "had ever claimed four individual gold medals in a single world championships." Also, no swimmer, "male or female, had ever swept the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in a single worlds, a feat now known as the Ledecky Slam." But when Ledecky heads to the '16 Rio Games, "there will be no Ledecky Slam to gun for" because there will be no 1,500-meter freestyle event. The Olympics swimming program "includes neither a 1,500 free for women nor an 800 free for men." The odd arrangement "is a relic of an outdated era, when women may have been considered too frail to swim the 'metric mile.'" Asked last week whether FINA would ever push to have the women’s 1,500 free added to the Olympics program, governing body President Julio Maglione indicated that he "would sooner see 50-meter breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly added before another distance event." Sheinin notes the IOC and its TV partners, "in the eternal struggle to remain relevant, would rather see more sprints." But at the same time, one could argue that how would it "hurt the bottom line to have an additional event at the Olympics for the dominant figure in the sport at this moment?" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/10).
