INDIANAPOLIS — The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming will take place next month right here in the Circle City.
Hundreds of thousands of families, friends and fans are expected to fill the seats of Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Olympic Trials take place every four years, but for the first time ever, the event will be staged on a football field.
Two Brownsburg High School swimmers are gonna get to experience the nine-day event right from the pool deck.
Mallory Young and Carter Barszcz were selected to be basket carriers.
They’ll represent the Bulldogs at the most prestigious swimming event in the country.
“It’s gonna be so cool because typically you’re sitting in the stands and you’re really removed and far away. Actually being able to see how things function up close and being behind the scenes is gonna be so interesting," Young said.
Basket carriers are responsible for picking up and carrying swimmers gear — like headphones, clothes, shoes, towels — off the pool deck and returning it once their race is finished.
Young says she’s excited to watch some of the top athletes in the country in action.
“It’s very professional and prestigious because we’ll be really close to a lot of athletes, be able to talk to us, we can talk to them," Young said.
In order to be selected as basket carriers, applicants needed to submit an essay expressing what swimming means to them and explaining why they should be chosen.
Young wrote her essay about how swimming is a family affair.
The 16-year-old has spent the past decade swimming.
Her dad is a coach and her brothers swim as well.
The sophomore says the sport has helped her grow as a person and taught her life skills like time management and perseverance.
“It’s a huge part of my life. I spend so much time here at the pool that I couldn’t imagine not doing it," Young said.
Barszcz knows a thing or two about perseverance — he wrote his essay about how he started swimming later than most kids.
“I started later than other swimmers would start. They would start in elementary school and I started late middle school. That was really hard trying to get into the water when everybody else is just faster than me," Barszcz said.
But the freshman didn’t let that discourage him.
“Every day I would just try and do better.”
Barszcz, Young and dozens of other selected volunteers will participate in test days and dress rehearsals in the coming weeks.
The Olympic Trials will take place at from June 15-23.
