STANFORD — “I’m Katie. I’m from Maryland. I swim.”

Stanford freshman Katie Ledecky introduced herself during a luncheon for Archaic Greek Art as if she were just another new student.

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That earned a laugh from classmates because the world’s greatest female swimmer walked onto Stanford’s campus in the fall as a fully painted celebrity after winning four gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

She just didn’t act like one.

Forget about meeting Bryce Harper at a Washington Nationals game or taking family photos with Bruce Springsteen.

“She’s as advertised,” Cardinal swim coach Greg Meehan said. “She’s herself.”

Ledecky’s three freshmen roommates discovered as much the day they moved into the on-campus dorms. They found a note from their new roomie with accompanying chocolates.

“I hope I picked the right bed,” Ledecky wrote after moving in early because swim practice already had started.

No one protested.

After making the biggest transition of her young life, Ledecky, 20, has declared her first year in the Bay Area an unqualified success.

“Meeting all these new friends was a fun environment,” she said. “It kept my mind straight — my mind focused on the present and the future and not thinking about the fun I had in Rio.”

With the spring quarter behind her, Ledecky’s mind returns to pool Tuesday where she opens the U.S. championships in Indianapolis with the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky also plans to swim the 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyles in an effort to qualify for four individual events at the World Championships, July 23-30 in Budapest.

She also is expected to compete in the 800 relay, giving her the possibility of winning five more world titles.

She has been draped in gold

It would follow a pattern that began five years ago when Ledecky started accumulating as much gold as Fort Knox.

She became an Olympic champion in London, then won nine consecutive World Championship titles in 2013 and ‘15. Not surprisingly, Ledecky also broke NCAA records and nine American marks in her first year at Stanford.

She helped lead the Cardinal to its first team title since 1998 while winning a meet-best five titles at the NCAA championships in March.

Although her supernatural talent in the pool has thrust Ledecky into the world spotlight, swimming never has been the only inspiration. She also is fueled by academic pursuits that provide thought-provoking experiences beyond the lane lines.

“She’s doing it the right way,” Stanford art history professor Jody Maxmin said. “She is challenging 360 degrees of herself.”

Ledecky realized early that sporting excellence is a small part of the Stanford experience. Last fall, she met a freshman in her dormitory study area who was writing a passionate email to a professor while lobbying for a research assignment.

“Honestly, it was about curing cancer,” Ledecky said.

The swimmer is considering majors in psychology, political science or history. The first year has given Ledecky a chance to test the academic waters.

She took Maxmin’s Greek art class with fellow freshman swimmer Brooke Stenstrom, whose father, Steve, took a similar class at Stanford before becoming an NFL quarterback.

Ledecky also took the psychology seminar How Beliefs Create Reality and waded into political science with Spirit of Democracy.

She was among a half-dozen Cardinal swimmers who took Sleep and Dreams taught by William Charles Dement, sometimes described as the American father of sleep medicine.

Poised, balanced and happy

The Olympian has remained close with Maxmin, who was swept up in the Ledecky bandwagon as the first quarter progressed.

“I don’t know that Andrew Luck was that poised, balanced and happy as a freshman,” said the professor who taught the famous Stanford quarterback in 2011.

Maxmin was so impressed with Ledecky’s final handwritten, blue-book essay she made a copy of it. The swimmer wrote about ancient fragmented sculpture, architecture and vases that were broken by the Persians during invasions of the Acropolis in 480 and 479.

Campus life also meant getting back on a bicycle. Stanford freshmen are required to live in residence halls and are prohibited from bringing cars.

Ledecky started honing her cycling skills upon returning from the Summer Olympics.

“I was practicing,” she told reporters in November. “Because I had no reason to bike back home.”

Now she can be seen zooming toward the Avery Aquatics Center while wearing the Stanford-issued white helmet with two red stripes.

Ledecky’s I-want-to-fit-in persona has made the transition easier for Meehan and the champion women’s swim team. The coach let his star enjoy as normal a freshman year as possible. It wasn’t always perfect while dealing with some security issues Meehan declined to detail.

“But the basic nuts and bolts of what we do every day she was like everybody else,” he said. “Just the same as the freshman who walked in the door without having ever made an international team.

“We don’t have the back door exit for Katie. If she goes out the back we’re all going out the back.”

The Bethesda, Maryland, swimmer would expect nothing less.

“I want to continue the things I’ve done my whole life and keep the values I have,” said Ledecky, who graduated from a Catholic girls school where community service is a centerpiece of the education.

Meehan emphasizes a balanced life with all his swimmers, saying, “We don’t want them to feel like we’re micromanaging everything.”

Swim coaches have been known for a singular pursuit to their sport. But Meehan, who has coached the past six seasons at Stanford, has produced some of the world’s best by knowing when to back away.

Ledecky’s varied interests have made it easier for Meehan, who will coach the U.S. women in Budapest.

She is just starting to take a peek at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where the women’s 1,500 freestyle will be held for the first time. It’s an event in which Ledecky owns the six fastest marks in history. If all goes according to plan over the next Olympic cycle, the swimmer will graduate from Stanford with an even bigger profile.

“Hopefully I’m setting myself up step by step,” she said.