Indiana swimmers impress with eight more tickets to Paris - Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Wednesday was another record-breaking night at the US Olympic Swimming Team Trials. Lucas Oil Stadium was packed with 22,209 fans, a number that surpassed the record set Saturday night by nearly 2,000.

In the pool, eight new swimmers punched their tickets to Paris after five finishes, the most in a single night in the nine-day event.

The highlight of the night was Matt Fallon’s victory in the men’s 200m breaststroke. The New Jersey native set a new American record at 2:06.54.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Fallon said after his win. “Honestly, I could be dreaming right now and I wouldn’t know it… It still feels surreal.”

For Hoosier State swimmers, Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano secured a spot in a second event in Paris. Giuliano was already set to compete in the men’s 200-meter freestyle, but he added the 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday after winning the championship. Guiliano will be joined by Jack Alexy, Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong for the 4x100m relay team.

IU student and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lilly King finished with the second-fastest time in the women’s 200 breaststroke semifinals. She will compete alongside now two-time Olympian Kate Douglass in the finals on Thursday night.

In the women’s 200-meter butterfly, Carmel High School’s Alex Shackell posted the second-fastest time of 2:06.10, 1.19 seconds behind three-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith, who still holds the American record for the event. Smith has already secured her place at the Summer Olympics after setting a new world record in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday night.

Shackell looks to join his brother Aaron in Paris, who is heading to his first Olympics after winning the men’s 400m freestyle on Saturday night. Both Aaron and Alex’s father, Nick, were two-time Olympic swimmers for Great Britain.

Elsewhere, Douglass, Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh and Simone Manuel qualified for the Olympics in the women’s 100-meter freestyle final. Walsh was already headed to Paris thanks to her performance in the 100m butterfly championships on Sunday.

In the men’s 200 meter butterfly, Thomas Heilman becomes an Olympian for the first time, winning that final with a time of 1:54.50.

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, heading to her fourth Olympic Games, added another event to her trip to Paris after dominating the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle marathon.

Thursday’s primetime events include three finals (women’s 200-meter butterfly, men’s 200-meter backstroke and women’s 200-meter breaststroke) and three semifinals (men’s 50-meter freestyle, women’s 200-meter breaststroke and men’s 200-meter medley). All the action starts at 8 pm at Lucas Oil Stadium.