INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The crowds were large and raucous. The biggest stars largely lived up to their billing. And plenty of promising young swimmers emerged over nine days in Indiana.
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials wrapped up Sunday night with the final two events at Lucas Oil Stadium, rounding out the roster for the Paris Games.
Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel are among those who will be going for gold in the City of Light, joined by potential new standouts such as Kate Douglass and Thomas Heilman.
Setting up a temporary pool inside the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts took the event to a whole new level. Nearly 300,000 fans turned out, with two sessions drawing crowds of more than 20,000.
The set-up drew rave reviews from the athletes.
“It’s been awesome. I think it blew away all of our expectations,” Ledecky said. “Just walking in the first day, it was incredible to see how it came together. Once it filled up with people, it made us all even happier.”
Star Power
Ledecky won all four of her freestyle events, ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters, and she’ll again be the face of the American team as she competes in her fourth Olympics.
Ledecky won’t swim the 200, an event that produced only a fifth-place finish in Tokyo, and she’ll need to improve on her times in the 400 to have a shot at gold in that star-studded event.
But she remains the favorite in the 800 — an event where she’ll be going for a four-peat — and the 1,500.
Dressel, who took an extended layoff from swimming after Tokyo, won a pair of events in Indy and appeared to be regaining the form that produced five gold medals at the last Olympics.
“I’m really good at racing,” he said. “You put me in a race, I will make it close, as close as I possibly can, even if I have to try to kill myself to get there.”
Manuel, whose last Olympics were marred by overtraining syndrome, claimed an individual event on the final night of the trials with a victory in the 50 freestyle. She’ll also be a key performer on the 4×100 free relay.
She said her winning race “felt like the longest 50 of my life because I wanted it bad. I really wanted to swim an individual event.”
Bobby Finke, the winner of the 800 and 1,500 freestyle races in Tokyo, will get a chance to defend his titles after winning both events at the trials.
On The Rise
Douglass showed why she is regarded as one of the world’s most versatile swimmers.
