Indianapolis will host the 2024 US Olympic Swimming Team Trials. The announcement was made Tuesday morning.
Throughout nine days in June 2024, the meet will determine which swimmers will represent the United States in the Paris Olympic Games.
“It's always great to be able to swim in front of a home crowd,” said five-time Olympic medalist Lilly King. “I really feed off of that energy and I know we're going to have so many fans here.”
It would be the 25-year-old’s third Olympic games, and as she says, possibly her last. But it is her first trials in her home state, where the Evansville native competed for Indiana University.
The last four Olympic trials were held in Omaha, Nebraska. For the 2024 meet, the location will be Lucas Oil stadium, which will hold more than 30,000 fans and three temporary pools. It is going to be the first swimming competition being held in an NFL stadium.
Indiana Sports Corp., the organization which helped Indianapolis make the bid, pledged nearly half a million dollars with USA Swimming. The money is supposed to make the event more sustainable for the community in years to come, by investing in water safety program for children.
“I nearly drowned in the pool when I was 3 years old and didn't know how to swim,” Indiana Sports Corp. President Ryan Vaughn said about his personal motivation to direct the investment there. “Because of that I was immediately taken to swim lessons at the then brand new IU Natatorium and swimming became a big part of my life.”
Events for the community and visitors from all over are planned in different parts of Indianapolis. Previous Olympic Trials in Omaha brought as much as $74 million of profits to the host city.
