Las Vegas swimming trio talks about making Olympics
The three female Olympic swimmers from Sandpipers of Nevada, a Las Vegas-based swimming club, met with the media Wednesday morning at the team’s Las Vegas office.
Katie Grimes, 15, qualified in the 800-meter freestyle last week at the U.S. Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, finishing second to Katie Ledecky. Grimes is the youngest American Olympic swimmer since Ledecky in 2012, who was 15 at the time.
Bella Sims, 16, will compete in the 800 free relay after finishing fifth in the 200 free. She is on the world stage despite not swimming until she just six years ago.
Erica Sullivan, 20, made the team in the 1,500, finishing second to Ledecky. Grimes was third but did not qualify for the Olympics in that event. Sullivan is a former open-water swimming champion who will compete for the University of Texas after the Olympics.
“I have been visualizing what it would feel like for a long time,” Sullivan said. “I think the fact that it’s actually happening, it’s weird when your dreams become a reality. I think we’re definitely learning how to cope with that.”
Another Sandpipers swimmer, Bowe Becker, made the Olympics in the 400 free relay after finishing fifth in the 100 free. After the trials, he returned to the University of Minnesota, where Becker was an All-American.
The swimming portion of the Olympics is July 24 to Aug. 1 in Tokyo.
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
