INDIANAPOLIS — Lilly King and Josh Matheny punched their tickets to the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday (June 28) and four swimmers with ties to the Indiana swimming and diving program finished top 10 in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Phillips 66 National Championships inside the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
In the women’s event, King and Indiana Swim Club training partner Annie Lazor came in as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, after prelims. The 2020 Olympic medalists reached another podium together as King held off Virginia’s Kate Douglass with the second-fastest time of her career, a 2:20.95. Lazor took bronze in 2:25.86.
King will look to defend her 200 breast world crown after she became the first American swimmer to win a career treble of golds in the 50-100-200 of any stroke at the long course world championships a year ago in Budapest. She remains the second-fastest American ever in the event with her 2:19.92 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Josh Matheny broke Cody Miller’s 200-meter breaststroke program record with a 2:08.32 swim to finish in second place in the men’s race. As the runner-up, he also clinched a spot in USA Swimming’s roster for World Championships, his first time making a senior roster for world championships. Matheny won the event at the 2019 World Junior Championships before joining Indiana in 2021.
Moments before, teammate Jassen Yep set his second lifetime best of the day and won the B final to place ninth nationally.
King and Matheny join a growing list of Hoosiers qualified for the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships. Divers Andrew Capobianco, Jessica Parratto and Maxwell Weinrich will also represent Team USA. Mariah Denigan has clinched a spot on the USA Swimming Open Water National Team and associated head coach Cory Chitwood will serve as assistant coach for that discipline. Additionally, international swimmers Marwan Elkamash (Egypt), Tomer Frankel (Israel), Ching Hwee Gan (Singapore), Ahmed Hafnaoui (Tunisia) and Rafael Miroslaw (Germany) have all qualified for their respective national teams.
The Phillips 66 National Championships continue through Saturday (July 1) in Indianapolis as the Hoosiers look to add more cream and crimson to the Team USA roster. Through two days at the meet, Hoosiers have collected 14 personal bests and 26 Olympic Trial cuts.
