INDIANAPOLIS — Lilly King had already locked herself into a spot on Team USA’s 2024 Paris Olympics roster with a 100-meter breaststroke victory Monday at U.S. Olympic swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. She’s the world record holder, after all.
And then Thursday night, she finished second to former Virginia swimmer Kate Douglass in the 200-meter breaststroke.
At U.S. trials, only the winner is guaranteed a spot in the event, and the second-place finisher isn’t a lock but definitely very likely. So King is expected return to the Olympics in both breaststroke events.
What the 27-year-old swimmer and now-three-time Olympian probably didn’t expect was what followed her final swim at trials.
After leaving the competition pool after the 200 breaststroke final, King walked down the stairs toward the warm-down pool and found her boyfriend, James Wells, waiting for her. The pair chatted, and then Wells — who was also an Indiana University breaststroker, like King — reached into his pocket, got down on one knee and proposed.
After Lilly King qualified for her second race for the Paris Olympics, her fiancé gave her a ring of her own. 💍 #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/UgnfeyJYgO
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 21, 2024
A great five minutes in Lilly King’s life: She comes back in the last 50 meters to qualify for her second Olympic event in the 200 breaststroke, then walks backstage and gets engaged. pic.twitter.com/evG3iTZO1Z
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) June 21, 2024
