INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Olympic swimming trials opened Saturday night with a historic bang: record attendance, a world record in the pool, a legend making his fourth Olympics and a surprise by a hometown kid.
Before a crowd of 20,689 at Lucas Oil Stadium, by far the largest gathering ever for an indoor swimming meet, Gretchen Walsh verified her blossoming greatness with the fastest 100-meter butterfly ever by a woman. Then, Katie Ledecky became the ninth American swimmer to qualify for four Olympics, winning the 400 freestyle. And after that, Indianapolis product Aaron Shackell beat out several Olympians to win the men’s 400 freestyle.
United States Swimming took the gamble of moving its flagship event in an NFL stadium, but the early returns were spectacular. With the encouragement of a massive crowd, the American swimmers posted fast times.
“Tonight, everything blew it out of the water,” Ledecky said. “It was a pretty nice start to the week.”
Walsh began by breaking Sarah Sjostrom’s eight-year-old record of 55.48 in the butterfly with a time of 55.18. The 21-year-old Virginia swimmer Walsh set the record in the morning preliminaries by breaking 56 seconds for the first time in her career, then went much faster at night. When she saw the bulletin board, she burst into tears.
“I think my reaction showed it all,” Walsh said. “I was absolutely impressed with the weather.”
Walsh crossed the 50-meter mark in 25.45 seconds, well below Sjostrom’s record pace and “way too fast,” she thought. But she maintained her speed throughout the second half of the race to validate herself as a long course superstar. Previously, Walsh had broken records in numerous college competitive events contested in 25-yard pools. It was her highly anticipated coming out party in the large swimming pool.
Now here’s the hard part: Walsh still hasn’t made the U.S. Olympic team. This was only a semi-final, and there are two other super-fast competitors in the event. Which means that the world record could be lowered further during this meeting.
Torri Huske, who held the American record until Saturday night, qualified second for Sunday’s final with a time of 55.79. Right behind her is Regan Smith with 55.92. All three are heavy favorites to make the U.S. team for Paris in other events, but only two of them can make it in this one.
With three women under 56 seconds and all eight finalists under 58 seconds, Saturday was the fastest butterfly night in American history. “It was an honor to swim alongside him,” said Kelly Pash, who was in the lane adjacent to Walsh and qualified for the final in eighth place. “I feel like I took all the dolphin shots, but you know what? I take it.”
It’s been a big week for Ledecky. She became a published author and made her fourth Olympic team, having competed in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. (Ledecky, 27, has declared his intention to continue swimming until 2028, hoping to make the Los Angeles Olympics his fifth appearance.)
Her winning time of 3:58.35 was the sixth fastest of her career, and more importantly, it was faster than her winning time at the trials in 2016 and 2021. She beamed during interviews with ‘after the race, managing to never let these moments get old.
“It’s special,” Ledecky said. “I just tried to enjoy every moment tonight. … I seem to enjoy it more and more every year. I am proud of this consistency. I challenge myself to stay consistent.
“Since I arrived in London, I never thought I would make it there. I didn’t dream of it when I was young. (After London) I wanted to prove that I was not a marvel. But at the same time, I reminded myself that anything more than that was icing on the cake, icing on the cake, whatever. That’s just the concentration I was able to maintain.
His autobiography, Just add water, hit shelves Wednesday. On Saturday night, Ledecky won the 400-meter freestyle title for the third time in a row at the trials to punch his ticket to Paris – and more to come. The greatest long-distance swimmer in history, owner of seven Olympic gold medals and three silvers, is expected to add titles here in the 800 and 1,500 freestyle, two events in which she is the world record holder .
She is also the top seed in the 200 freestyle if she swims all three heats of that event. Ledecky could choose to post a time in the preliminaries that guarantees him a spot on the U.S. 800 freestyle relay, but remove that race from his individual program because it could be difficult to medal at that distance.
Ledecky will face stiff competition in the 400m freestyle in Paris. Australian Ariarne Titmus beat her in a thrilling 400m duel in 2021 in Tokyo and is the current world record holder (3:55.38). Titmus clocked 3:55.44 earlier this month at the Australian Olympic Trials, showing she remains in top form. Then there’s Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh, who held the world record for about four months last year before Titmus reclaimed it. McIntosh spent less than four minutes at the Canadian trials in April.
“It’s going to be a big field,” Ledecky said.
The U.S. men are trailing internationally in the 400 freestyle, but Indianapolis product Aaron Shackell brought a burst of new energy to the event by winning the event from lane 6. Shackell, 19 , a product of the red-hot Carmel Swim Club, left school as a freshman in California this past school year.
“I wasn’t swimming well and I didn’t want to risk missing an opportunity,” Shackell said of the decision to come home and train with his former club.
Shackell took an early lead and tenaciously fought off the Tokyo Olympians in the event: runner-up Kieran Smith, fourth-place Bobby Finke and eighth-place Jake Mitchell. “I’m not going to lose,” Shackell told himself as he returned home with the advantage.
Among the thousands of local fans cheering her on was her younger sister, Alex, who qualified fourth in the women’s 100 butterfly earlier in the evening and will be a strong contender to make the team in the women’s 200 fly. Alex held off on his post-race drug test long enough to burn out and watch Aaron lock up his Olympic spot.
“I can’t even describe it,” Alex Shackell said, physically shaking as she spoke. “It was more stressful than my own swim. … I knew he could do it. I had a feeling. I can’t imagine my parents right now.
For Aaron Shackell, he is carrying on a family legacy: his father, Nick, was a 1996 Olympic swimmer for Great Britain. And now a Carmel legacy too, with Mitchell and Drew Kibler having made the team in 2021.
When Shackell won, he got out of the pool and pulled up his cap and glasses in exultation. Later, when he took the stage to be officially recognized as a champion and Olympian, the emotion was evident on his face.
“It was just a moment that I always dreamed of, watching the previous Olympic trials,” Shackell said. “I was just absorbing everything.”