When the 1,500-meter freestyle event at the U.S. Olympic Trials begins Sunday, Luke Whitlock may be trying to secure an Olympic berth not only for himself, but also for fellow Indiana native Blake Pieroni.
Whitlock, 18, of Noblesville, earned a spot on the national team after placing second to Bobby Finke in the 800-meter freestyle on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Each country is limited to 26 swimmers each for the Paris Olympics, with USA Swimming prioritizing the second-place finishers and the top four in the 100m and 200m freestyle. The fifth- and sixth-place finishers in the 100m and 200m freestyle will be selected for the relay if the team size does not exceed the limit.
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The U.S. men's team is on the edge of its limits, with Whitlock coming in second in the 1,500m freestyle, opening up a spot for Pieroni.
Pieroni, 28, a former Indiana University swimmer and state champion at Chesterton High School, has come out of retirement to compete in his third Olympic Games. He placed sixth in the 200 freestyle. Coincidentally, he will be competing against Matt King, who placed sixth in the 100 freestyle. King is transferring to IU.
The one remaining spot for the sixth-place swimmer will go to King, who is tied with Pieroni in the world rankings.
Finke was the fastest qualifier in the 1,500-meter freestyle heats on Saturday, finishing in 14:59.04.
Next was David Johnston in 15:02.42, Charlie Clark in 15:04.77 and Whitlock in 15:07.36.
Three Indiana high school swimmers competed in the women's 50-meter freestyle heats.
IU's Christina Pagle (Bloomington South), 9th in 24.80 (seeded 13th);Number); Julie Mishler (Wawasee), 25-25.34Number (Seed 18NumberLily Christianson (University of Pennsylvania), 25.43-32and (Seed 43rd).
Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at 1-800-464-4488.email addressFollow me on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
