Lilly King finishes breaststroke sweep, and Carmel's Berit Berglund makes U.S. junior team

It would be overstatement to call this Lilly King’s 2022 Redemption Tour. After all, she did swim to three medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

But if she needed to underscore her breaststroke dominance, she has done so in the International Team Trials at Greensboro, N.C.

King won her signature 100-meter breaststroke Friday night, leading training partner Annie Lazor to a 1-2 finish. That completed a sweep of 50, 100 and 200 breaststrokes by Indiana University’s eight-time NCAA champion.

More: Grieving Annie Lazor beats Lilly King at Olympic Trials: 'We've been to hell and back together.'

King slapped the water in celebration at the finish. In a scene reminiscent of last year’s Olympic Trials, she and Lazor embraced and held their arms in the air. They finished 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke at Omaha, then spoke afterward about their close bond, especially in grieving the loss of Lazor’s father.

At the Olympics, King and Lazor won silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke. Lazor did not make the world team in the 200.

“It’s awesome we could be on a team together," King said. "I was joking with her like, ‘Oh, you’re a sprinter now!’ That was a long time coming, and I know after the disappointment in the 200, I know she wanted that one really bad.”

King’s time was 1:05.67, compared with Lazor’s 1:06.12. Kaitlyn Dobler was third in 1:06.19.

Lydia Jacoby, an 18-year-old Alaskan, was fourth in 1:06.21. She won gold at Tokyo, handing King her first loss in the 100 breaststroke since December 2015.

Elsewhere, Carmel’s Berit Berglund secured a spot on the U.S. team for the Junior Pan Pacific meet by winning the B final of the 100 backstroke in 1:00.23.

That made Berglund the top 17-and-under swimmer and allowed her to climb to 13th on the all-time U.S. list for 17-year-olds. (Carmel’s Claire Adams is No. 7 with a 59.58 from winning the senior national title in 2015.)

Berglund became Carmel’s third junior winner, joining siblings Alex Shackell in the women’s 100 butterfly and Aaron Shackell in the men’s 200 butterfly.

In the 100 backstroke, Stanford's Regan Smith set a U.S. Open record of 57.76 for the fastest time ever on U.S. soil. She set the previous record of 57.92 at Omaha last year.

Claire Curzan was second in 58.39, becoming the fastest American 17-year-old ever and making the world team in a fourth event.

Katie Ledecky made it in a fourth individual event -- 200, 400, 800, 1,500 freestyles -- by winning the 400 in 3:59.52, fastest in the world this year. She set the U.S. Open record of 3:57.94 at Indianapolis in 2018.

In men's events, Ohio State's Hunter Armstrong upset world record-holder Ryan Murphy in the 100 backstroke, and Nic Fink beat Michael Andrew in the 100 breaststroke.

Armstrong, who set a world record Thursday in the 50 backstroke, clocked 52.20 to Murphy's 52.46. They rank 1-2 in the world this year.

Fink's time (58.37) is also fastest in the world. IU graduate Cody Miller, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, was fourth in 1:00.68. The Hoosiers' Josh Matheny won the B final 1:00.58.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods0007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lilly King wins 100-meter breaststroke at International Team Trials