Record crowd earns Notre Dame and IU swimmers spots on US Olympic team
“Pure joy.” IU swimmer Josh Matheny travels to the Olympic Games in Paris
Josh Matheny finished second in the 100-meter freestyle, securing his spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming team.
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INDIANAPOLIS – Whether adopted or native Hoosiers, the fight continues for Indiana swimmers in the U.S. Olympic qualifiers.
In front of a record crowd of 22,209 spectators in the hall, Chris Guiliano of Notre Dame and Josh Matheny of Indiana University secured their places on the team heading to the Olympic Games in Paris on the fifth night of the Trials on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In a 100-meter freestyle event pitting the three fastest American men of all time against each other, Guiliano won in 47.38 seconds. Jack Alexey was second in 47.47 seconds, while reigning Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel was third in 47.53 seconds.
More: Carmel teenager Alex Shackell effortlessly wins semifinal and continues to shine in Olympic qualifying matches
But Dressel secured a spot in the 4×100 freestyle relay along with backstroker Hunter Armstrong, who finished fourth with a time of 47.78.
In the 200-meter breaststroke, Matt Fallon set an American record of 2:06.54, beating the 2:07.17 mark held by Josh Prenot since 2016.
Matheny, who was third in the 150 meters, took second place with a time of 2:08.86. He finished third in the 100-meter breaststroke, one place behind Paris. Ananias Pouch finished third with a time of 2:09.05.
Indiana natives who have previously made the Olympic team: Drew Kibler, Aaron Shackell, Alex Shackell, Carmel; Lilly King, Evansville, Blake Pieroni, Chesterton; Luke Whitlock, Noblesville.
Katie Ledecky won her third freestyle event of the Trials, running the 1,500m in 15:37.35. She has the 19th fastest times ever in the event, ranking 16th.
Katie Grimes, second with 15:55.77, had already made it into the team in the 400-meter individual medley and the 10-kilometer open water swim.
Kate Douglass won the women’s 100-meter freestyle in 52.56 seconds. Torri Huske secured second place in 52.93 seconds.
Gretchen Walsh, the first in the 50 metres, finished third with 53.13. Simone Manuel, the 2016 Olympic champion, finished fourth with 53.13.
One night after 18-year-old Whitlock became the youngest U.S. men’s swimmer to make the team since 2000, 17-year-old Thomas Heilman of Crozet, Virginia, won the 200 butterfly in 1:54.50. Coincidentally, Heilman finished second in that event behind Aaron Shackell of Carmel at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
Luca Orlando finished second in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:55.08.
Heilman is the youngest on the men’s team since Michael Phelps and Aaron Peirsol in 2000.
In the 200-meter breaststroke, King came from behind to win the semifinal in 2:22.45 to Alex Walsh’s 2:22.81. Both were slower, however, than Kate Douglass, whose semifinal in 2:21.23 followed a 2:19.66 run that set a national championship record.
King secured her third consecutive Olympic berth with her victory in the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday.
Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at [email protected]Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
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