Night three of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming presented by Lilly saw eleven athletes claim spots on the 2024 Paris Olympic Team.
The night started with Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) grabbing a victory in the women’s 400m individual medley. Grimes became the first American to qualify for an open water and pool event at the same Olympic Games after she qualified for the women’s 10K last year in f*ckuoka, Japan. Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) and Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Calif./California Aquatics) added their names to the list of individual qualifiers in the 100m breaststroke and 100m backstroke, respectively. Paris will be Grimes’ second Olympic Games, while King and Murphy qualified for their third.
The women’s and men’s 200m freestyle made seven new swimmers Paris Olympic Team dreams come true. The women’s race added athletes Claire Weinstein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala./New York Athletic Club), and Erin Gemmell (Potomac, Md./Nation’s Capital Swim Club), while Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club) solidified her second event qualification. Luke Hobson (Reno, Nev./Longhorn Aquatics), Chris Guiliano (Douglassville, Pa./University of Notre Dame), Drew Kibler (Carmel, Ind./New York Athletic Club), and Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield Aquatic Club) claimed spots on the men’s team.
Women’s 400m Individual Medley – FINAL
1 – Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 4:35.00
2 – Emma Weyant (Sarasota, Fla./Gator Swim Club), 4.35.56
3 – Lilla Bognar (Travelers Rest, S.C./Team Greenville), 4:37.86
Men’s 200m Freestyle – FINAL
1 – Luke Hobson (Reno, Nev./Longhorn Aquatics), 1:44.89
2 – Chris Guiliano (Douglassville, Pa./University of Notre Dame), 1:45.38
3 – Drew Kibler (Carmel, Ind./New York Athletic Club), 1:45.60
4 – Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield Aquatic Club), 1:45.61
Smith on making relays work: “Trust. Laying it on the line for your brothers and your country. Just racing as hard as you can when the pressure is on and when you're in the moment.”
Kibler on performing in front of a hometown crowd: “I have a ton of family that rallied and turned this into the biggest family reunion in over a decade which has been super cool. Knowing all the Carmel Swim Club summers and people from over the years, showing support and love, it's been really special.”
Guiliano on his confidence level going into the Paris Olympics: “I'm ready for it. Swimming here has prepared us all very well for what we are going to experience in Paris. I mean, I think I can speak for us all in saying we are confident and super excited.”
Hobson on making his first Olympic Team: “If you told me that was going to be the case as a kid, I would have told you no way...I couldn’t be happier to do it with these guys...this year I made it my mission to be consistent and be able to throw down on that relay and put it on the line for the country and for all these guys.”
Women’s 100m Backstroke – Semifinal
1 – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics), 57.47*
2 – Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./NC State), 57.83
3T – Josephine Fuller (Richmond, Va./University of Tennessee), 58.79
3T – Kennedy Noble (Avondale, Ariz./Wolfpack Elite), 58.79
*American record
Men’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL
1 – Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Calif./California Aquatics), 52.22
2 – Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club), 52.72
3 – Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./Swim Atlanta), 53.74
Murphy on finding motivation: “I feel like I've always got a fire under my butt. I feel like I'm a really motivated person...I want to win every time I touch the water, whether that's a Monday morning practice or an Olympic final.”
Women’s 100m Breaststroke – FINAL
1 – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 1:05.43
2 – Emma Weber (Boulder, Colo./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:06.10
3 – Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Club), 1:06.37
King on finding motivation: “I think for me at this point in my career I've done everything I've ever wanted to do... it's don't mess up, swim a smart race and see what happens. Yeah, it is quite monotonous but swimmers, we spend most of our lives staring at a blue line, so we get used to it.”
Women’s 200m Freestyle – FINAL
1 – Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club), 1:55.22
2 – Claire Weinstein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 1:56.18
3 – Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala./New York Athletic Club), 1:56.35
4 – Erin Gemmell (Potomac, Md./NCAP), 1:56.75
Madden on qualifying for a relay team: “Relays for Team USA are everything. I would much rather be on a relay than swim an individual race. I think they are so fun and it's just what Team USA is all about.”
Competition continues through Sunday, June 23, at Lucas Oil Stadium. Tomorrow’s finals feature the men’s 100m freestyle semifinal, men’s 200m butterfly semifinal, women’s 100m backstroke final, men’s 800m freestyle final, women’s 100m freestyle semifinal, and men’s 200m breaststroke semifinal. Prelims will begin at 11 a.m. ET, while finals start at 8 p.m. ET.Meet information and the complete competition schedule can be found here.
Click here to see the full broadcast schedule for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming presented by Lilly. Live streams of all prelims sessions are available on the USA Swimming Network. Live results will be posted to @USASwimmingNews on X.
