SARASOTA – When she learned she had qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in women’s swimming, Sarasota Sharks swimmer Danica Aten celebrated by seeing a doctor.
And then drinking it. The 16-year-old Pine View School student downed a bottle of Dr. Pepper soda, her favorite.
“It’s kind of a treat,” Aten said.
Perhaps Addison Sauickie, Gracie Weyant, and Michaela Mattes had their way of celebrating. They will join Aten at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the first time the Trials have been held on a football field. Three temporary pools ― two 50-meter, and one 25-meter ― will be constructed on the Indianapolis Colts’ will be transformed onto’s home field.
They Trials will air on NBC, NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app, and Peacock. Qualifying heats are daily at 11 a.m. live on Peacock. Semifinals and finals are daily at 8 p.m. live on NBC and Peacock.
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The four will contest for one of 26 spots on the U.S. women’s team. More than 1,000 swimmers from around the country will convene trying to earn a first- or second-place finish which will qualify them for the Olympic Games Paris July 26-Aug. 11. There, a total of 852 swimmers from around the world will compete in 35 events.
Aten, a Shark since 2017, will use the Trials as a vehicle for gaining experience swimming in the national spotlight. Swimmers earn spots at the Trials by posting specific times at any event during the qualifying period. Aten, whose specialty is the backstroke, qualified by finishing ninth last year at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships.
“Just more experience than anything else,” Aten said. “I do the sport because I enjoy it, but I think it’s getting more comfortable at swimming on such a big stage.”
Swimmers who don’t finish first or second still may qualify for the U.S. National or U.S. Junior National teams with top-10 finishes.
The Sharks sent 11 swimmers to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Trials. Only one, former Sharks swimmer Emma Weyant, qualified, and the current Florida Gator wound up winning the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley. The 22-year-old Riverview High graduate will be at the Trials trying to punch her ticket back to the Games.
In February, at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Sauickie won a gold medal swimming on the U.S. mixed 4×100 medley relay team. She earned a bronze swimming on the U.S. mixed 4×100 freestyle relay team. In Indianapolis, Sauickie will swim the 200 and 400 freestyle. Unlike Aten, who didn’t compete at the last Trials, Sauickie did and feels that experience should help her this time around.
“I do feel more prepared,” the 18-year-old said. “This meet is quite the production, and having experienced such high-pressure environments before, I feel as if I know what to expect when getting myself ready to focus on my race.”
Sauickie wasn’t about to make any predictions on how she might fare in Indianapolis.
“I’m super excited for the meet,” she said. “I hope to race the best I can and, hopefully, the results will reflect that.”
At the last Trials, Mattes was a month removed from lung surgery.
“I did pretty well considering the circumstances,” she said. “I didn’t get last in any of my events. Overall, it was a great experience, and it set me up really well for these Trials.”
Having qualified in five events, Mattes will swim the 200 free, 400 free, and 400 IM.
“I learned that the most important part of the Trials is the prelims,” she said. “You have to swim fast in the morning, or else you won’t be able to swim fast that night. That was my biggest takeaway from the last Trials, and also that it’s just another meet. Don’t let the pressure get to you. It’s just another opportunity to swim fast.”
Her performance last time, where Mattes said she finished “somewhere in the middle,” told her she needed to improve.
“I’ve really worked at it,” she said. “It showed me that I still had some mistakes in my swimming, and it showed me that I had a lot to still work on. I feel I definitely got a lot better at it. I’m way more skilled than I was three years ago.
“My mindset for every single meet is to go out and swim fast and have fun,” she said. “I don’t like to put a lot of pressure on myself because the more pressure, it tends to get inside my head. Just let loose and whatever happens, happens. I’m happy with the result as long as I give my 100 percent.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Sharks sending four swimmers to Indianapolis for U.S. Olympic Team Trials
