Las Vegas swimmer qualifies for 3rd event at Paris Olympics
Las Vegas teenager Katie Grimes qualified for a third event in the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing second in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis.
Grimes, 18, who swims for the Sandpipers of Nevada, posted a time of 15 minutes, 57.77 seconds, trailing world record-holder and seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky (15:37.35).
Grimes previously qualified for the Paris Games in the 400-meter individual medley and the 10-kilometer open-water race.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — contested in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic — Grimes was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team at 15. She finished fourth in the 800-meter freestyle.
On Wednesday, fellow Sandpiper Erica Sullivan, who attended Palo Verde High School, finished seventh in the 1,500 freestyle in 16:29.88.
A.J. Pouch of Boulder City just missed qualifying for the Olympics, finishing third in the 200 breaststroke (2:09.05). He finished ninth in the 100 breaststroke (59.86) on Saturday.
Former Sandpiper Bella Sims finished 21st in the 200 butterfly (2:12.41).
Lucy Warnick of the Sandpipers and Palo Verde finished 25th in the 200 breaststroke (2:32.31).
UNLV’s McKay Mickelson, from Legacy High, finished 48th in the men’s 200 backstroke (2:02.22).
Previously at the trials:
— Claire Weinstein of the Sandpipers advanced to the Olympics by finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle (1:56.18) to Ledecky (1:55.22) on Monday. Grimes finished eighth (1:57.33) in that race. Weinstein also finished 30th in the 400 freestyle (4:14.20) on Saturday.
— Luke Ellis of the Sandpipers qualified fifth (7:54.26) for the 800-meter freestyle Monday but scratched out of Tuesday’s final. He also finished 14th in the 400-meter freestyle (3:50.79) on Saturday and 14th in the 400-meter individual medley (4:19.94) on Sunday.
— Cody Miller of the Sandpipers and Palo Verde — a 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 4×100 medley relay and bronze medalist in the 100 breaststroke — finished 15th in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.63) on Saturday and 17th in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.23) on Tuesday.
— Josh Brown of the Sandpipers finished 13th in the 800 freestyle (8:00.76) on Monday and 35th in the 400 freestyle (3:55.05) on Saturday.
— Max Carlsen of Las Vegas Swim Club and Palo Verde finished 20th in the 800-meter freestyle (8:02.98) on Monday and 22nd in the 400-meter freestyle (3:52.93) on Saturday. He recently won the Class 5A state title in the 200-yard (1:37.56) and 500-yard (4:21.37) freestyle, setting a state record in the latter in the process.
— Gabriel Manteufel of the Sandipipers finished 21st in the 800 freestyle (8:04.59) on Monday and 41st in the 400 freestyle (3:55.93) on Saturday.
— Sims also finished 17th in the 200 freestyle (1:59.68) on Sunday, 18th in the 100 backstroke (1:00.88) on Monday, 20th in the 400 freestyle (4:12.49) on Saturday and 31st in the 100 freestyle (55.54) on Tuesday.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.