Sacred Heart Student and Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky Named Olympic Sportswoman of the Year

Katie Ledecky, ST'15 of the United States smiles as she holds her gold medal after winning the Women's 400m freestyle final at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, July 28, 2013. 

(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Congratulations to Katie Ledecky, Sacred Heart junior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart who was recently named by the United States Olympic Committee's Olympic SportsWoman of the Year.  Katie will be honored on Tuesday, October 29 in New York.  Katie is the first female swimmer to win the USOC SportsWoman of the Year honors since Natalie Coughlin in 2008. 

We first learned of Katie Ledecky, the youngest member of the US Olympic Team who swam her way to her first gold medal in the London 2012 Olympic Games.   This past year at the 2013 World Championships, she won gold in 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle, as well as the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, setting two world records.  Read more here in The Washington Times.

Summer Olympics in London and a message from the past... Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ
1857 -1914

If you have spent the last two weeks intently watching the summer Olympics being hosted in London and have a Sacred Heart education you might be thinking of one of the most admired and loved RSCJ educators of the 20th century. Janet Erskine Stuart was born November 11, 1857 in Cottesmore, England the youngest of Reverend Andrew Stuart's thirteen children.  She became a convert at age 22 and three years later entered the Society of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton, London. 

Mother Stuart rose through the ranks and became the sixth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1911.  Her tenure was short yet filled with a great deal of writing. Most notably, The Education of Catholic Girls written in 1912.

The following quote by Janet Erskine Stuart sums up how I feel about this past week; "To be a Joy-Bearer and a Joy-Giver says everything; it means that one is faithfully living for God and that nothing else counts; and if one gives joy to others we are doing God's work."

Congratulations to all of the Olympic athletes and most especially to Sacred Heart students Lia Neal and Katie Ledecky. These two young ladies brought their Sacred Heart family and the entire United States much joy as they competed in the 2012 Olympics. 

Sacred Heart Students' Neal and Ledecky Make Olympic History

Sacred Heart Network Boasts Olympic Champions

Congrats to Lia Neal and Katie Ledecky who both made Olympic history in London last week. Neal a student at 91st in New York was the second African-American female swimmer to medal in the Olympic Games. Ledecky a student at Stone Ridge in Bethesda was the the youngest (at age 15) U.S. Olympian this year.  The two Sacred Heart students were roommates during the games in London and had many supporters and fans nationwide cheering them on via tweets and Facebook postings. On behalf of the AASH we send our best wishes to these two fantastic athletes and Sacred Heart students!

Sacred Heart Student's Lia Neal and Katie Ledecky to Swim Today in London

Lia Neal, student at 91st, N.Y.

LONDON 2012 - OLYMPIC SWIMMING

Tune in today, Saturday, July 28th (7:00 am EST) and cheer on Sacred Heart students: Lia Neal,   enrolled at 91st Street, NY and Katie Ledecky a student at Stone Ridge, Washington, D.C. Katie is the youngest member of the U.S. swim team.  

Katie Ledecky, student at Stone Ridge in Washington, D.C.