INDIANAPOLIS — The pool is built. The tickets are pricey. The psych sheet is out.
Now, time to get down to racing.
These U.S. Olympic Trials, which open a nine-day run Saturday in Indianapolis, will be unlike any other in the history of swimming. Lucas Oil Stadium is 100 years, and light years, away from the 1924 trials held at Broad Ripple Park. These trials will be a showcase for the sport and part of NBC’s run-up to the Paris Olympics.
It is more consequential than that for the 1,000 swimmers trying to be among the 52 Olympians. After years in the sport and miles in the pool, they are seeking what for most would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance: To be an Olympian.
For instance, Carmel High School has won 38 consecutive state championships in girls swimming, a record for all states and all sports. But the program has never produced an Olympian.
“It’s not something I think about 24/7,” said Alex Shackell, who has a chance to be that first Olympian.
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Carmel had no Olympic swimmers until three years ago, when Drew Kibler and Jake Mitchell made the Tokyo team. They are in the mix again, as are a collection of other Hoosiers.
Lilly King, of course. But also Blake Pieroni, Michael Brinegar, Kelly Pash, Will Modglin, Alex Shackell and brother Aaron, Luke Whitlock, and Kayla Han. And that doesn’t include college connections such as Notre Dame sprinter Chris Guiliano or Indiana University breaststroke Josh Matheny.
Prelims begin at 11 a.m. each day (no prelims June 23), and finals at 8 p.m. The meet will be televised live by NBC or streamed on Peacock.
Those who pay attention once every four years might not recognize any name other than Katie Ledecky. She has been around since the 2012 Olympics in London, where she won gold in the 800-meter freestyle at age 15.
Otherwise, the most high-profile swimmers, Simone Manuel and Caeleb Dressel, are showing evidence of successful comebacks. Other familiar favorites include Ryan Murphy, Bobby Finke and Regan Smith, who have combined for 11 Olympic medals.
Gretchen Walsh, 21, of the University of Virginia, is coming off one of the best college seasons ever, winning three individual events in record times at the NCAA Championships.
On the men’s side, University of California’s Jack Alexy, also 21, won five medals at the 2023 World Championships. He was silver medalist in two marquee events, the 50- and 100-meter freestyles.
Although the Indiana Sports Corp. and USA Swimming aimed for crowds of 30,000 each night, advance ticket sales are falling short of that, according to Tim Hinchey III, CEO of USA Swimming.
Revised goal is to have 16,000 seated in the south half of the stadium Saturday night, exceeding a record for swimming under a roof. Projected economic impact of this event is $100 million.
Hinchey did not rule out returning to Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2028 trials ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.
“Whatever we do here, I don’t think it’s against any real odds to say, ‘Listen, if it goes well, if we can accomplish what we want to accomplish, I would be open to coming back,’ “ he said. “We’ve invested this much first time around. Can we reap more reward second time around?”
Let’s go racing.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.