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The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Lilly King confident going into Rio

Freshman Lilly King practices turns during practice on Dec. 7, 2015 in the Counsilman-Bilingsley Aquatic Center.

Lilly King’s life changed in an instant.

King went from a freshman worrying about her goldfish in her dorm room to needing a security escort to go to dinner.

The rising sophomore sensation had qualified for the Olympics in the 100-meter breaststroke. Just months after she finished her first year at IU, she had children screaming her name.

“We were eating dinner at the pool,” King said. “But I had to go out to the concourse and there were all these kids standing behind a barricade waiting for Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. I had hundreds of children screaming my name and that was a sudden change. No one really recognized me until I made the team in the 100.”

Another night, King said she had to have a security detail pick her up to go to dinner so she didn’t get mobbed.

After dominating the 100-meter breaststroke, King proceeded to win the 200-meter breaststroke, qualifying for the Olympics in two events.

“Before the trials, I had been thinking about the 100 for four years,” King said. “I was definitely extremely mentally prepared and ready to go.”

King was confident heading into the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, a trait her coach, Ray Looze, said defines her.

“Lilly is a performer but one of her better traits is she is a competitor,” Looze said. “I think a lot of our athletes learned how important confidence is and Lilly is a very confident person. She expects to do well. Having that kind of natural born optimism where going in she thinks she’s going to be successful, that’s the most important thing at the highest level, getting to a point mentally where you believe in yourself.”

King added she tends to be calm before a race, which she said freaks out her opponents.

King had good reason to be confident — this wasn’t the first time she pulled off the breaststroke double. At the NCAA Championship meet in March, she won both the 100- and the 200-yard breaststroke races. In the process of winning two championships, she also set the American records in both events.

After winning both events, King was confident she could qualify for the 
Olympics.

“Definitely, it wasn’t surprising to me,” King said. “I guess honestly I’ve been preparing for it for so long and I was calm through it. After the NCAA’s, I was kind of sure that I was going to make the team.”

King started swimming at the age of seven, following in the footsteps of her mother who swam at Eastern Kentucky and Illinois State.

Starting out, King was slow and she struggled to even get down the length of the pool.

With a growth spurt that all changed by the time King was 12.

“I was not fast at all,” King said. “I kept working hard every day and I loved the sport. I kept trying as hard as I could in practice and I kept gradually getting better. I grew really young so that helped. I’ve been this tall since eighth grade. Being this size since I was young has been a big deal for me.“

Four years later at age 16, King had her breakthrough moment, winning her first Junior Nationals event while also breaking a minute.

“That was a pretty big deal as a 16-year old,” King said. “Not many kids my age could do that. I also set the national age group record in that event that day. That was the first time I was like wow, maybe I can make the Olympic team.”

King came to IU as an in-state swimmer from Evansville, Indiana. In her first year as a Hoosier, she continued her 
development.

“She had some really good attributes but for a variety of reasons she wasn’t fully developed until she got a chance to do the kind of stuff we do,” Looze said. “I knew there was a chance to do really good stuff, the timing was right being in an Olympic year.”

The timing was perfect — King had come into her own as a swimmer the same year as the Olympics.

Only 19 years old, King is headed to the Olympics with a good chance to win a medal, even in her first Olympics. She said she is confident and ready, but knows she has a bright future in the sport, no matter the result.

“I’m motivated by knowing that I can do so much more in this sport and there’s so much more in store for me,” King said. “Especially going to the Olympics, getting in and working hard, knowing it will pay off.

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