Breaststroke queen Lilly King takes her second title of world swim trials
Lilly King likes to get in, get out, get a win.
In what she called her favorite event, she took the 50-meter breaststroke Thursday on night 3 of USA Swimming’s International Team Trials at Greensboro, N.C.
Elsewhere, Indiana teenagers Will Modglin, Alex Shackell, and Berit Berglund were highest finishers in their respective events among those eligible for a U.S. junior team.
King, the five-time Olympic gold medalist from Indiana University, finished in 29.76 seconds for the No. 2 time in the world this year. She was not far off her American record (29.40 from 2017) or U.S. Open record (29.62 from 2018).
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King is a two-time world champion in the 50 breaststroke, which is not in the Olympic Games but is a medal event for June’s World Championships at Budapest, Hungary. She won the 200 breaststroke Wednesday and is favored in the 100 breaststroke Friday.
"It was only my second 50 of the year, and that one takes a little bit of practice," King said. "I think it was a good time, and hopefully I’ll have a couple more chances to race that one before we get to worlds.”
Kaitlyn Dobler was second in 30.34, or .01 ahead of Lydia Jacoby, an 18-year-old Alaskan who upset King to win Olympic gold in the 100 breaststroke last year.
Ohio State’s Hunter Armstrong capped the night by setting a world record of 23.71 in the men’s 50 backstroke. He broke the record of 23.80 set by Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov in May 2021.
Modglin, 17, of Zionsville was 14th in 25.81 and highest 18-and-under swimmer. The 50 backstroke is not in August’s Junior Pan Pacific meet, so he will try to make the team Friday in the 100 backstroke. Carmel’s Wyatt Davis was 12th in 25.38.
Shackell, a Carmel freshman, won the B final of the women’s 100 butterfly to secure a second spot on the junior team. Her time was 58.78, or .01 ahead of Bailey Hartman, a 16-year-old Californian. Shackell lowered her own 15-16 Indiana record of 58.88 and became No. 3 ever among American 15-year-olds.
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In the women’s 50 backstroke, North Carolina State’s Katharine Berkoff (27.12) and Stanford’s Regan Smith (27.25) were both under Olivia Smoliga’s American record of 27.33. Smoliga was third, equaling her old record.
Berglund, 17, a Carmel junior, was eighth in 28.44 and tops among juniors. She, too, will try to make the Pan Pacs team Friday in the 100 backstroke.
Elsewhere, Caeleb Dressel, the Olympic champion and world record-holder in the 100 butterfly, won his third event of the trials in 50.20.
After finishing fourth in the 100 freestyle and second in the 200 freestyle, Carmel’s Drew Kibler was seventh in 52.39. The 100 butterfly is not a specialty of Kibler, who did win a fly state title in high school.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lilly King earns title at U.S. Swim Championship team trials
