At the 2020 Olympics, 15-year-old Katie Grimes was the youngest member of the U.S. team. She participated alongside Katie Ledecky to secure the fourth position in the 800-meter freestyle event. Now, after creating history in Tokyo, Grimes is the first swimmer from the United States across all sports to qualify for Paris. The Nevada-based swimmer is honored and excited to represent the U.S.A. once again at the Olympics.

"Being able to represent the U.S.A. at the Olympics in Tokyo was such a great experience, and to be able to do it again in Paris, I'm just looking forward to it even more. I'm just really excited and honored." Grimes tells me in an interview

Training And Qualifying for Paris

At the 2022 World Swimming Championship held in Japan, Grimes secured her ticket to Paris for the open water event. After 2 hours and 2 minutes in water, she clinched bronze by surpassing the 10km Olympic medalist at Rio 2016, Sharon van Rouwendaal of The Netherlands by one tenth of a second in the women's 10km event.

Apart from open water Grimes has also showcased constant performances on an international level in her marquee events - 400 medley, 800 free and 1500 free. She is now looking forward to qualifying for in-pool events at the U.S. Olympic trials, this week in Indianapolis.

“I'll be competing in the 400 IM, the 1500 free, the 800 free, possibly the 400 free, and the 200 back. I think having the experience of having raced the 400 IM, the 1500, and the 800 already internationally is a big confidence boost heading into the trials, just because the vibe of our U.S. trails is just about the same as the Olympics, just with the intensity of the pressure and, you know, the excitement. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.” Grimes stated.

Grimes also believes that her training has not changed much and is hopeful to manage her recovery outside the pool while participating in both open water and in-pool events.

“Yeah, I would just say that my training has really not changed much, but we've just been working really hard and focusing on being able to hopefully compete in both the pool and open-water and what that's going to look like schedule-wise in terms of what I would have to do outside of the pool for a recovery."

Experience In Tokyo

At the Tokyo Olympics, Grimes revealed to have zero preparation for what she was going to face. However, after representing the USA in the waters of Tokyo, she believes that she has come a long way. The swimmer feels a few changes, including more confidence, have been added to her experience as she heads towards her next big game.

“I'm definitely heading into it with a bit more notice just because in for Tokyo I qualified and then I left for the training camp in Hawaii within the next like five days, so I really had like zero preparation and, you know, like pre-knowledge of what I was going to be doing versus this time I've known for the past year that I've already qualified for the Paris Olympics in open water.”

“In terms of how is my preparation changed, I've just been able to wrap my head around a bit more and be more confident going into the summer knowing that I'm smarter, I'm a bit stronger, and faster,” Grimes tells me.

Facing Summer McIntosh In Paris

Katie Grimes has continued to maintain her form in the 400 medley event, winning silver twice at the 2021 and 2022 Worlds. However, at the championships she also faced strong competition from Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, who surpassed Grimes to win gold both times in the 400-meter event. This month, McIntosh also broke her own world record in the 400-meter IM with a time of 4:24.38 at the 2024 Canadian Olympic trials. Following this update, Grimes feels the competition brings more excitement to the events if she qualifies for the event at Trials this week.

“Yeah, I would say it definitely adds more excitement to the event, for sure, but first things first. I have to qualify for that before, you know, before I get to the Olympics and compete with her, I first have to compete with my fellow teammates and try and qualify for that spot, so I would say it definitely just adds more excitement to the event because it is getting faster and faster.”

She also looks forward to joining teammates from the U.S.A. to feel a sense of companionship at the event.

"I would say, even just like you know, whoever you know after the team is selected, just being able to compete with my teammates from the USA is always exciting, just because there's always that sense of camaraderie underneath all of the competitiveness.”

Swimming In College

Apart from participating in the Olympics, Katie Grimes will also be joining college this year. The swimmer shared her thoughts regarding this big change, as she believes the college swimming experience will be different than swimming internationally or for Sandpiper of Nevada, a youth swimming club in Las Vegas.

“So I will be attending college in August after the Olympics, so you know, college swimming is very different from international swimming just in terms that they don't even race long course meters, so it's only short course yards, and that's only something that we do here in the US, so yeah, college swimming is going to be very different.”

“Even just from my club team that I compete on here in Las Vegas, just because you know you're with a bunch of people that are around your age and there's a different schedule, everything there's different training, different coach, so lots of changes, but yeah, it should be exciting, and I'm looking forward to that next chapter,” she revealed.

Expectations From Open Water Event At Paris

Open water is quite different from competing in in-pool events and comes with its own set of challanges, especially for young swimmers. As the event favors experience over skills. At the 2022 Worlds women's 10 km held in Lupa Lake, Grimes finished fifth in 2:02:37.2. And, all four swimmers ahead of her in Budapest waters were 25 years older than her. Nonetheless, the 18-year-old swimmer, who likes to keep her goals private, believes she is capable of clinching a win in the event in Paris.

“I think that, you know, I am definitely capable of that for sure. But lots of things can happen in open water, and, like you said, experience is very key. And that's one thing that I have a lot more of now heading into Paris, and so I would say that I feel very confident in myself, and I know that as long as I'm confident in me, I'm going to do pretty well.”

Partnering With Powerade

Ahead of Paris, Katie Grimes partnered alongside Powerade for their “It Takes More campaign.” Amid collaborating with the official sports drink brand at the 2024 Olympics, Grimes spoke about being inspiration for little kids through this campaign.

“I would say not only does it inspire me, but it's, you know, being a part of this campaign is also inspiring the next generation of young athletes with their goals and in their sport, and so I think that is also a really cool part of it. "

"I can spend a lot of time focusing on how this is going to benefit me, but really, it's a bigger picture than that, and there's so much more going on behind the scenes, and you know, I hope lots of little kids can look at this campaign of Powerade and see that they're also capable of doing more and achieving their goals."

From collaborating with Powerade to securing her spot for the 2024 Olympics, Katie Grimes has progressed a long way since her first Olympic appearance. She is now “coming back even stronger and more excited” as she looks forward to competing in Paris.

Katie Grimes Heads To The Paris Olympic Trials With More Confidence And Capability