USA Swimming News
Mariah Denigan Qualifies for Paris Olympics with 6th Place Finish at 2024 World Aquatics Championships
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The 2024 World Aquatics Championships kicked off this morning in Doha, Qatar, with U.S. National Team members Mariah Denigan (Walton, Ky./Indiana Swim Club) and Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) posting top-15 finishes in the Women's 10K. With Denigan's sixth-place finish, she qualifies to swim the 10K at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Grimes previously qualified for Paris with her bronze-medal performance at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Women’s 10K – FINAL
6 – Mariah Denigan (Walton, Ky./Indiana Swim Club), 1:57:31.10
15 – Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 1:57:39.40
Denigan on her race: “It was a lot better than I think any other race has gone for me. I feel like I perfected my first lap and put myself in the perfect place for the last lap, so I was really happy with how I swam.”
Denigan on the final stretch of the race: “That was where I felt most confident because I have been training for that moment, the last 1000, so I was reminding myself to stay calm, be in the moment, drive my stroke, and focus on my stroke technique to get my hand on the wall.”
Denigan on when she knew she had qualified for Paris: “I knew when I was heading into the finish buoy. I could see what place I was in, and I was like I did it, even before I finished.”
Race Notes:
Denigan finished +00:04.30 behind the winner, Sharon Van Rouwendaal (NED)
Denigan was positioned in 27th place at the start of lap four (of six) before coming back to post her sixth-place finish.
Denigan becomes just the fifth woman in U.S. history to qualify for the Olympics in the 10K, joining Grimes (2024), Haley Anderson (2012, 2016, 2020), Ashley Twichell (2020), and Chloe Sutton (2008, 2012).
Denigan becomes the 40th American athlete across all sports and the second from Indiana to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Competition in Doha continues tomorrow with the Men’s 10K, featuring Michael Brinegar (Bloomington, Ind./The Swim Team) and Ivan Puskovitch (West Chester, Pa./TSM Aquatics) looking to add their names to the list of Olympic qualifiers. The race will begin at 2:30 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on Peacock.
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