Katie Grimes Pulls Grueling Double in Indianapolis, Set For Another in Paris

Katie Grimes -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Katie Grimes Pulls Grueling Double in Indianapolis, Set For Another in Paris

The lights were dimmed inside Lucas Oil Stadium as Katie Grimes rose from below the pool deck on the elevator that doubles as the awards podium for newly-qualified Olympians. Grimes adoration from the crowd following her win in the 400 individual medley — and then she took off sprinting toward the ready room. She was still wearing her tech suit, googles and cap not far away. Her night of racing was incomplete.

Grimes got to the ready room in time to be announced for another final, in the 200 freestyle. Grimes had qualified fifth for that final with a personal-best time of 1:57.19, and she had nothing to lose. Why not make a run at a relay spot in the event? She had already taken care of her best event, the 400 IM, one hour earlier, and while she did have a preliminary heat in the 1500 free coming up the next day, that would be followed by more than 24 hours off from racing.

Unfortunately for Grimes, fatigue took hold in the opening portion of the 200 free, and by the 150-meter mark, she was more than a second behind anyone else in the field. She would rally, her closing split of 29.71 quickest in the field, but it was too little, too late, as Grimes finished eighth, just three tenths away from the long-sought relay spot at a major international competition.

And afterward, her night was still not over, needing to go through warm-down swims and drug testing before she could leave the venue and eat a meal before she would make it to bed around 12:30 a.m.

“That’s a double that I’ve done quite a few times before but never at this scale, so that was pretty challenging trying to manage it because usually I don’t have to do a medal ceremony and the ready room 15 minutes prior,” Grimes said. “It was fun, but I would have liked to have seen better results for sure.”

When she gets to Paris, Grimes will have another difficult turnaround, this time over several days but with vastly differing energy output requirements. Grimes will race both pool and open water swimming at the Olympics, having become the first American woman and only second American overall (after Jordan Wilimovsky) to attempt both disciplines at that level in the same Olympics. She previously qualified for the 10K in a near-heroic finish at last year’s World Championships, touching out open water veterans Sharon van Rouwendaal and Ana Marcela Cunha for a bronze medal and automatic ticket.

In Paris, the 400 IM will take place July 29 while the 10-kilometer open water swim will occur August 8. Grimes could still add more swims in between those dates, particularly as she prepares to swim the 1500 free final Wednesday.

Katie Grimes — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

On making the team in the pool and open water, Grimes said, “That’s been a goal of mine ever since I was a young girl watching Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell, being able to do both really well. That’s really special to me. I’m really looking forward to it. But honestly, I haven’t thought about open water once since I’ve been here. I’ve just been in a different mindset.”

When it comes to racing, yes, essentially a separate sport. But the training, Grimes insists, is complementary. The Sandpipers of Nevada are known for swimming extremely high volumes in training, a necessity for swimming a 10,000-meter race, and plenty of pool-focused work is helpful when changing speed is required during open water races.

“We definitely do a lot variety in our training, tons of IM, tons of speed work. My coach is a genius. I kind of just trust him blindly. He’s done a great job,” Grimes said. “I’ve been with coach Ron (Aitken) since I was 13, so I’ve gotten used to kind of how we do things. He’s really good at making sure we get what we need and making sure we don’t overload too much.”

Grimes will be a strong medal contender in both the 400 IM and the open water swim in Paris, bidding to become only the second American to reach the podium in the marathon swim following Anderson’s silver at the 2012 Games in London. Her performance in 2023 indicates she will have chance.

As for the pool, while Grimes finished some three-and-a-half seconds off her best time in the 400 IM final, she attributed that to selection meet nerves before noting that she tends to perform better in the event in international waters, even with Canadian dynamo Summer McIntosh by her side. And she is favored to make the Olympic team in at least one more event, the 1500 free, where the chase for medals will be relatively open beyond Katie Ledecky.

When Grimes qualified for the Olympics in open water last year in Fukuoka, she still had her pool swims to come, but the order will be reversed in Paris, a situation that Grimes prefers after a rough swim in the 1500 free just days after qualifying in the 10K. She is surely not alone in that position as the two best pool-open water combination swimmers on the men’s side, Florian Wellbrock and Gregorio Paltrinieri, also struggled significantly in the pool after winning open water medals.

“It’s going to be different for sure, but we had the same lineup in Budapest (at the 2022 World Championships) where we swam the pool events prior,” she said. “I had the 1500 and the 400 IM, and then I had the 10K a few days after that. We’ve done it before. We’ve gotten all the hard work out of the way, so I know if I try to keep my endurance up, keep my strength up, I’ll be good.”

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