A swimmer from Sacramento will be competing for Team USA at the summer Olympics in Paris

A 22-year-old swimmer from Sacramento punched his ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after finishing second in his category.

Luca Urlando will compete in the 200-meter butterfly for Team USA next month at the Paris La Defense Arena after missing out on the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

Team USA Swimming made the announcement official on Sunday morning at the conclusion of the Olympic team trials in Indianapolis, posting on social media: “What a journey for @lucaurlando.”

He qualified this year with a time of 1 minute, 55.08 seconds on Wednesday, about a half-second behind first-place swimmer Thomas Heilman.

The Olympic swim team is allowed up to 26 men and 26 women, selected based on a priority system. The top four finishers in the 100- and 200-meter freestyles are given priority on the team, then the winner of each other event. Once those spots are filled, the second-place finishers in the events earn a spot, and so on, until the roster is filled.

Urlando attended C.K. McClatchy High School in Land Park, where he set a national record for the 100-meter butterfly in 2019. He also swam for DART Swimming as part of Davis Aquadarts, the team he represented at the Olympic trials.

Aquadarts swimmers Tom Higdon and Sarah Bennetts also competed for a spot on the 2024 team, but neither qualified.

He currently swims for the University of Georgia, where he set the American record for the 100-meter backstroke as a sophomore, as well as school records in eight other events. He did not compete with the Bulldogs this season so he could train for the Olympics.

In 2021, Urlando finished third at the Olympic team trials in both the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events, just barely missing a spot on the team despite being favored to compete in Tokyo.

Urlando will compete his event in Paris on July 30, with finals hosted the following evening.