Katie Grimes will represent the USA in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Seine in Paris on August 9th, but the 18-year-old from Las Vegas will also showcase her other finely-honed three swim strokes in the 400m individual medley in Paris.
Grimes won tight battle over Emma Weyant at the USA Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis tonight in the long-form decathlon of pool swimming.
400 IM Final Heat – top 2 athletes qualify for Paris
- Katie Grimes 4:35.00
- Emma Weyant 4:35.56
- Lilla Bognar 4:37.86
- Leah Smith 4:39.87
- Leah Hayes 4:41.32
- Lucy Bell 4:41.40
- Zoe Dixon 4:42.01
- Audrey Derivaux 4:46.89
That combination of world-class open water stamina and butterfly-backstroke-breaststroke talent is rare – but has existed among the international elite in the past. Keri-Anne Payne of Great Britain, Éva Risztov of Hungary, and Ous Mellouli of Tunisian were all world-class individual medley performers who also won Olympic medals in the 10 km marathon swim during their careers.
Mike Lewis caught Grimes standing alone on the starting pontoon as she waited for the rest of the field to start the 10 km race at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In those Championships, she won a silver medal in the 400m IM (4:32.67) and a silver medal in the 1500m freestyle (15:44.89) in the pool, and finished 5th in the 10 km (2:02:37.20), all at the age of 16.
Stay tuned to watch Grimes’ exploits in the pool and Seine in Paris.
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