Las Vegas swimmer qualifies for 3rd event at Paris Olympics

Las Vegas teenager Katie Grimes qualified for a third event in the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing second in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis.

Grimes, 18, who swims for the Sandpipers of Nevada, posted a time of 15 minutes, 57.77 seconds, trailing world record-holder and seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky (15:37.35).

Grimes previously qualified for the Paris Games in the 400-meter individual medley and the 10-kilometer open-water race.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — contested in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic — Grimes was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team at 15. She finished fourth in the 800-meter freestyle.

On Wednesday, fellow Sandpiper Erica Sullivan, who attended Palo Verde High School, finished seventh in the 1,500 freestyle in 16:29.88.

A.J. Pouch of Boulder City just missed qualifying for the Olympics, finishing third in the 200 breaststroke (2:09.05). He finished ninth in the 100 breaststroke (59.86) on Saturday.

Former Sandpiper Bella Sims finished 21st in the 200 butterfly (2:12.41).

Lucy Warnick of the Sandpipers and Palo Verde finished 25th in the 200 breaststroke (2:32.31).

UNLV’s McKay Mickelson, from Legacy High, finished 48th in the men’s 200 backstroke (2:02.22).

Previously at the trials:

— Claire Weinstein of the Sandpipers advanced to the Olympics by finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle (1:56.18) to Ledecky (1:55.22) on Monday. Grimes finished eighth (1:57.33) in that race. Weinstein also finished 30th in the 400 freestyle (4:14.20) on Saturday.

— Luke Ellis of the Sandpipers qualified fifth (7:54.26) for the 800-meter freestyle Monday but scratched out of Tuesday’s final. He also finished 14th in the 400-meter freestyle (3:50.79) on Saturday and 14th in the 400-meter individual medley (4:19.94) on Sunday.

— Cody Miller of the Sandpipers and Palo Verde — a 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100 medley relay and bronze medalist in the 100 breaststroke — finished 15th in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.63) on Saturday and 17th in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.23) on Tuesday.

— Josh Brown of the Sandpipers finished 13th in the 800 freestyle (8:00.76) on Monday and 35th in the 400 freestyle (3:55.05) on Saturday.

— Max Carlsen of Las Vegas Swim Club and Palo Verde finished 20th in the 800-meter freestyle (8:02.98) on Monday and 22nd in the 400-meter freestyle (3:52.93) on Saturday. He recently won the Class 5A state title in the 200-yard (1:37.56) and 500-yard (4:21.37) freestyle, setting a state record in the latter in the process.

— Gabriel Manteufel of the Sandipipers finished 21st in the 800 freestyle (8:04.59) on Monday and 41st in the 400 freestyle (3:55.93) on Saturday.

— Sims also finished 17th in the 200 freestyle (1:59.68) on Sunday, 18th in the 100 backstroke (1:00.88) on Monday, 20th in the 400 freestyle (4:12.49) on Saturday and 31st in the 100 freestyle (55.54) on Tuesday.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.