After the Friday morning prelims had concluded on day two of the 2022 FINA World Cup Indianapolis, Tokyo Olympian Katie Grimes entered the pool again for a time trial in the 1500-meter freestyle (short-course meters) in efforts of setting a new World Junior Record. She took to the water, alongside France's Alexa Reyna, and swam a 15:42.05 — knocking 3.24 seconds off the previous record which was set by Turkey's Merve Tuncel back in 2020. 

“That was my first time racing a mile in short course meters," Grimes said. "I was just trying to race. And it was also my first time trial ever, so I was just trying to have fun with it but definitely felt the pain. And I’m really happy to be done.”

Grimes' swim came after the majority of spectators had left the arena, however both her family and a number of her Sandpipers of Nevada teammates were still in the stands cheering her on. 

"We go through the grind everyday together so they knew that was going to be a hard one for me," she said of her teammates. "They didn’t leave the pool even though they have finals tonight, so I really appreciated that.”

The record adds to a busy and successful 2022 calendar year for the 16-year-old, who won two silver medals (400m IM and 1500m freestyle) at the 2022 FINA World Championships, put up the second-best finish ever (fifth place) by an American women in the FINA World Open Water Championships 10K and, most recently, became the world junior champion in the 7.5K and as part of the 4x1500m open water relay at the 2022 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships. Today's World Junior Record is the first of such in Grimes' career. 

Grimes will continue to swim today and tomorrow at the 2022 FINA World Cup Indianapolis.