Katie Grimes will represent the USA in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Seine in Paris on August 8th, but the 18-year-old from Las Vegas will also showcase her talents in the 400m individual medley and 1500m freestyle in the pool.
Her schedule will demand a total of 13.8 km of fast swimming between July 29th and August 8th in Paris:
- Monday, July 29th: 400m individual medley heats at 11:00 am + 400m individual medley final heat at 8:30 pm
- Tuesday, July 30th: 1500m freestyle heats at 11:00 am
- Wednesday, July 31st: 1500m freestyle final at 8:30 pm
- Thursday, August 8th 10 km marathon swim at 7:30 am
On paper, Grimes can do something no one else has even done in Olympic history: win 3 separate medals in the pool and open water events.
While Ous Mellouli is the namesake of the Mellouli Double (i.e., winning two separate medals in both the pool and open water at the same Olympic Games), if Grimes earns three separate podium positions, a new descriptive term for her achievements will be necessary.
Grimes qualified second in the 400m individual medley today, finishing in a rather pedestrian (for her) 4:37.24, second to American teammate Emma Weyant who qualified first in 4:36.27. But looming large to their left in the finals tomorrow evening will be Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh who set her current world record in Toronto in 4:24.38 in May.
However, if Grimes can hold on to a podium position, she will set herself up very well for another medal in the 1500m freestyle, where another American teammate Katie Ledecky looms even larger than McIntosh in the 400m individual medley.
Then, Grimes’ attempt at a 400 IM – 1500 – 10 km triple podium finish will come down to the strategy, stamina, and speed of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim on August 8th where she will face the following field:
- Chelsea Gubecka, Australia
- Moesha Johnson, Australia
- Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil
- Viviane Jungblut, Brazil
- Emma Finlin, Canada
- Xin Xin, China
- Maria De Valdes Alvarez, Spain
- Angela Martinez Guillen, Spain
- Oceane Cassignol, France
- Caroline Laure Jouisse, France
- Leah Phoebe Crisp, Great Britain
- Leonie Beck, Germany
- Leonie Maertens, Germany
- Bettina Fabian, Hungary
- Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Italy
- Ginevra Taddeucci, Italy
- Airi Ebina, Japan
- Martha Sandoval Ayala, Mexico
- Lisa Pou, Monaco
- Sharon van Rouwendaal, Netherlands
- Maria Alejandra Bramont-Arias, Peru
- Angelica Andre, Portugal
- Mariah Denigan, USA
- Katie Grimes, USA
This is what the Seine 10 km marathon swim course looked like this morning:
Women’s 400m Individual Medley Finals
- Summer McIntosh (Canada) 4:27.71 (GOLD)
- Katie Grimes (USA) 4:33.40 (SILVER)
- Emma Weyant (USA) 4:34.93 (BRONZE)
- Freya Constance Colbert (GBR) 4:35.67
- Ella Ramsay (AUS) 4:38.01
- Mio Narita (JPN) 4:38.83
- Katie Shanahan (GBR) 4:40.17
- Ellen Walshe (IRL) 4:40.70
Katie Grimes cannot celebrate too long tonight as she has her 1500m freestyle preliminary heat tomorrow morning.
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