Bethesda, Maryland’s Seth Engel is a man with a mission. He wants Olympian Katie Ledecky celebrated with a ticker-tape parade.
“I am serious,” Engel said, “I have pushed this at every level I can.”
The long time C-SPAN producer said a ticker-tape parade, with its mounds of confetti raining down would show the rest of the U.S. how special Ledecky is to her hometown of Bethesda.
“I understand that Bethesda is not Manhattan, but there’s probably two or three good blocks where there are tall buildings,” he said, adding: “She represents the best of who we are in this community.”
Ledecky, 27, started swimming when she was 6 and is the most decorated female swimmer ever. She won four medals at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, including two gold ones.
She returned from Paris Monday night at Dulles airport, telling NBC Washington that “it hasn’t really sunk in” that she’s now the most decorated American woman in Olympic history.
Engel said he was “overcome with pride when I saw Katie Ledecky’s performance. … There are dozens of communities across the country who will be honoring their own Olympic athletes, but we are the only ones that have the greatest swimmer in female swimming history.”
Engel said he has contacted the offices of both Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Elrich’s office told WTOP it is interested and currently engaged in figuring out a way to honor all of Montgomery County’s Olympians.
Eight athletes who competed at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris are from the county.
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