Ryan Murphy, Lilly King lead a night for Olympic veterans at U.S. swim trials

INDIANAPOLIS — It is the nature of human physiology, the sport of swimming and the unyielding Olympic quadrennial to produce a constant churn of names on Team USA’s Summer Games roster every four years. It is not uncommon at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials to see giddy high-schoolers stealing roster spots from seasoned pros and those seasoned pros hanging on the wall at the end of their races suddenly facing the prospect of a career in twilight.

Monday night, though, was a night for the veterans of Team USA — and not just any veterans but Olympic stalwarts, superstars and outright legends. The kids will have their day and perhaps multiple days over the course of this meet. But Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium, some of the most accomplished American swimmers of recent vintage held back the clock — and held off the kids — for another spell.

When Katie Ledecky, in the night’s final race, powered home for a victory in the women’s ­200-meter freestyle — in a time of 1 minute 55.22 seconds, more than a second ahead of 17-year-old runner-up Claire Weinstein — the old-timers’ reign was complete. Now about to be a four-time Olympian, Ledecky, 27, followed a pair of soon-to-be three-time Olympians, backstroker Ryan Murphy and breaststroker Lilly King, to the winner’s stage at the medal ceremonies.

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Combined, the three already have won 21 Olympic medals, including 13 golds, and all will be threats to collect more next month in Paris.

Ledecky, however, could choose to give up her Olympic spot in the individual 200-meter freestyle — a race in which she would be a decided underdog to a pair of dynamic Australians — to focus on her other races, including the 4x200 free relay, which she probably will anchor. At the Tokyo Games, Ledecky finished fifth in the individual 200 — the first time she failed to make the podium in an Olympic final — but threw down a blistering anchor leg in the relay to help the Americans to a silver medal behind China.

As exciting as it is to see newbies punch their tickets to their first Olympics, the best Olympic teams — like the best teams in any sport — are a blend of phenoms and veterans. Over the course of Team USA’s training camps between Indianapolis and Paris, it is the veterans who help instill the team culture they, in turn, inherited from the veterans of past teams. And in Ledecky, Murphy and King, Team USA will be led by some of the most respected names in the sport.

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“We’ve always had really good leadership on Team USA,” said Murphy, whose winning backstroke time Monday night (52.22) ranks first in the world this season. “And I think my leadership style will be a blend of all those [earlier] guys. … I want our team to feel as comfortable as possible when they walk on the deck at the Olympics for the first time.”

King, who was born and raised in Evansville, Ind., and was an eight-time NCAA champion for Indiana University, grew up attending Colts games at Lucas Oil Stadium and was the clear favorite of the crowd — with her victory, in a time of 1:05.43, drawing a massive roar.

“I had a really special night tonight,” said King, who has said Paris will be her final Olympics. “I think I’ve basked in [the atmosphere] here more than I ever have, just being here in Indy and this being my last trials. … At this point in my career, I’ve done everything I’ve ever wanted to do.”

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Yet another accomplished Olympic veteran, three-time Tokyo medalist Regan Smith, turned in perhaps the night’s most impressive swim, clocking a 57.47 in the semifinal of the women’s 100 back to lower her own American record and lead the qualifying for Tuesday night’s final — when the entire building will be on world record alert.

Eighteen-year-old Katie Grimes, who cracked the Tokyo roster three years ago at age 15, won the women’s 400-meter individual medley and will represent Team USA again in that event in Paris. Grimes also has the distinction of representing the United States in both the pool and in open-water swimming, having qualified for the latter over the winter.

Only one of the five finals was won by an Olympic newcomer: the men’s 200 freestyle, claimed by 20-year-old Luke Hobson in a time of 1:44.89.

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But it was Ledecky’s 200 free that served as the perfect nightcap for a finals session marked by huge swims by even huger names.

Within moments of finishing her race and scanning the scoreboard, Ledecky, in Lane 4, was leaping across lane lines to hug 19-year-old Erin Gemmell two lanes over. The daughter of Ledecky’s former coach, Bruce Gemmell, Erin grew up idolizing her dad’s most famous protégé, even dressing up as Ledecky one year for Halloween — in official Team USA gear donated by the legend herself.

“I really don’t think I’d be here if it weren’t for her,” Gemmell said of Ledecky. “It’s really special to be that close to someone who’s so inspirational. It makes [an Olympic career] seem more achievable in way, to be that close. It makes them seem much more human. It made me think if I put my mind to it, I could reach that point.”

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Gemmell, by finishing fourth in the 200 free final in 1:56.75, locked up a berth on the 4x200-meter freestyle relay in Paris, along with second-place finisher Weinstein (1:56.18) and third-place Paige Madden (1:56.36). Once roster concerns shake out, the fifth- and sixth-place finishers, Anna Peplowski and Alex Shackell, should also be added to the roster.

Ledecky, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, had already qualified for Paris by winning the 400 free two nights earlier and will be the overwhelming favorite to add titles in the 800 and 1,500 here as well. In Paris, she needs two more golds to pass fellow American Jenny Thompson for the most by a female swimmer in history.

But when it comes to the 200 free in Paris, both the individual race and the relay, the Americans will be distinct underdogs to their Australian counterparts. While no American woman has been under 1:54 this season, two Aussies went under 1:53 at their Olympic trials: Ariarne Titmus (1:52.23) and Mollie O’Callaghan (1:52.48).

There is probably nothing, in other words, that could help the Americans stave off defeat in that race in Paris. Not even Katie Ledecky swimming anchor.

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