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The only obstacle on Jake Mitchells ’trip to the Tokyo Olympics was the timer.
The University of Michigan freshman swimmer was the last person in the pool on Tuesday night during the U.S. Olympics in Omaha, Nebraska. Competing with no one but himself, he needed 400 meters of freestyle 3: 46.78 time to get to this summer’s Olympics. He hit the mark easily and finished 3:45.86 in front of the crowd, which encouraged him throughout the race.
Its insane, Mitchell told the Associated Press after the meeting. I’ve wanted to be an Olympian since I was a kid. This is definitely a dream.
Mitchell needed a time trial on Tuesday because his time on Sunday in the 400 freestyle races wasn’t fast enough to qualify. Although he finished second, which would normally be a good enough place for the Olympic team, his time at 3: 48.17 was not fast enough to make the Tokyo cut.
Since Carmel, a native of Indiana, finished second, he got his first crack in a time trial approved by the governing body, FINA, and drove nearly 3 seconds out of his Sunday race.
Apparently I was pretty disappointed, Mitchell said. All summer I practiced going 3:44, 3:45 somewhere out there. Going 3:48 was not as good as I hoped.
Mitchell, a freshman in the first ten years of 2021, said the crowd would refresh him.
I was very nervous in the staging area, he said. Shaking almost. As soon as I walked out, I looked around. I asked to look at everyone standing in the auditorium, to hear everyone encourage me. It was an amazing feeling.
Mitchell is one of a handful of current and former Michigan swimmers competing in the U.S. Olympics on Sunday, June 13 – Sunday, June 20.
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