BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana swimming and diving junior Kai van Westering qualified for the Olympics Thursday (Feb. 15) while representing the Netherlands in the 200-yard backstroke at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Van Westering swam a 1:57.29 in prelims heats before upgrading his time to 1:56.91 in the semifinal. Both are under the Olympic Qualifying Time of 1:57.50. His seventh-place finish in the semis also qualifies him for his first World Championships final, which he’ll swim Friday.
Van Westering is in his second season for IU swim and dive program. He was a valuable member of Indiana’s Big Ten Champion team last season, scoring in all three events he raced at the conference meet.
The Paris Games will be a sort of homecoming for van Westering, who grew up in France but represents the Netherlands in competition as his father is Dutch.
