Oklahomans to compete at U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis
OKLAHOMA (KFOR) - With the Olympics right around the corner, several swimmers are trying to punch their ticket to Paris. A few of the swimmers competing at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials are from right here in the Sooner State as well.
"He's had to work a really long time to get to this point,” Laura and Ken Healy said about their son Ryan who is competing. “It was uncertain at some points in his career as well, so to see him finally make it, we're proud of him."
"Having coached him and then now I get to be on the sidelines as a parent cheering for him. It's a lot of fun,” Ben Hayes said about his son Aiden who is competing.
These parents are on the road, ready and eager to watch their sons fight for a chance to represent the red, white and blue in the Paris Olympics.
"We are lifelong swimming fans, so we know what a big deal this event is, how hard it is to get there,” Laura and Ken Healy said.
The Healy’s are former swimmers themselves and their son Ryan graduated from Edmond North. Hayes’s son Aiden graduated from Norman North. Both of them are now college swimmers. Ryan is a soon-to-be sophomore at Michigan and Aiden is a soon-to-be senior at North Carolina State. They’re currently working to earn their way to the biggest stage in the sport at the trials in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"I'm super excited,” Hayes said.
The football stadium has three temporary Olympic sized pools. This is the first time in history that a football stadium will hold a major swimming event. It’s an event where only two get selected from it in the end out of about the thousand competing.
"We understand how brutal the sport can be,” the Healy’s said.
Both swimmers have been in the pool essentially their entire lives.
Aiden is an All-American, ACC champion, and even a national champion with lots of records at 21 years old. Ryan is an Oklahoma state champion at just 18 years old and he got here after battling some injuries. Both sets of parents are hoping all their hard work it took to get here can push them to lock in and clock the best times.
"You're going to have to get out the tape measure and say, see, the pool is the same length,” the Healy’s said. "It's water, like, don't get overwhelmed in the moment."
"You have to believe that you can do it and then you have to visualize it and then you got to go race to win,” Hayes said.
The Olympics start on July 26th and run until August 11th. You can catch all the action on KFOR Oklahoma’s News 4.