INDIANAPOLIS — The 757 will be well represented at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials happening this week at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
A plethora of athletes from Virginia Beach-based TIDE Swimming and other local swim clubs will look to secure a spot for themselves on Team USA. The event goes from June 15-23, with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games being held in Paris, France from July 26 through August 11.
The top two finishers in each event usually earn spots on the U.S. Olympic swim team.
Here's a look at the Hampton Roads athletes who are competing in Indianapolis this week — keep checking this story throughout the week for updates on how they perform!
Callie Dickinson (Virginia Beach)
Callie Dickinson of Virginia Beach will be competing in her third U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Dickinson graduated from UGA where she became a six-time All-American, four-time SEC Championship medalist and notched four top-ten times in program history.
Just this past summer, she was selected to represent the United States at the World University Games in Chengdu, China in five different events, and was chosen as Team Captain.
In the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, she competed in four different events: 100 and 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley. This year, she will be swimming in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley events.
On Saturday, June 15, Dickinson raced in heat eight of the 100m butterfly event and came in 29th place, with a time of 59.47.
On Wednesday, June 19, Dickinson raced in heat seven of the 200m butterfly event and came in 28th place, with a time of 2:13.28.
On Friday, June 21, Dickinson raced in heat one of the 200m individual medley event and came in 37th place with a time of 2:18.49.
Bobby DiNunzio (Virginia Beach)
Bobby DiNunzio of Virginia Beach is making his Olympic Trials debut. He is a rising sophomore who is swimming and studying at The University of Florida. He is a graduate of Ocean Lakes High School, where he was a multiple-time state swimming champion.
Bobby has qualified to compete in 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle.
On Monday, June 17, DiNunzio raced in heat two of the 800m freestyle event and placed 42nd with a time of 8:10.05.
On Saturday, June 22, DiNunzio raced in heat three of the 1500m freestyle event and placed 28th with a time of 15:36.35.
Sophia Knapp (Virginia Beach)
Sophia Knapp is a rising junior who is swimming and studying at The University of Virginia. She is a graduate of First Colonial High School, where she was part of three state team titles. She is also a state champion and state record holder in the 500-yard freestyle and has qualified in the 800-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle.
While swimming at UVA, Sophia has been part of the last two NCAA Swim and Dive Championship Team Titles and earned a podium-3rd place finish at the 2024 ACC Championships. She is currently training for the U.S. Olympic Trials with the UVA team under the Women’s Head Olympic Swim Team Coach, and UVA Head Coach Todd DeSorbo.
On Tuesday, June 18, Knapp raced in heat three of the 1500m freestyle event and placed 36th with a time of 17:08.11.
On Friday, June 21, Knapp raced in heat two of the 800m freestyle event and placed 37th with a time of 8:53.69.
Kayla Wilson (Virginia Beach)
Kayla Wilson is a rising junior who is swimming and studying at Stanford University attending her second Olympic team trials. She began swimming for TIDE when she was seven years old and also swam at Norfolk Academy, where she broke several state records.
At Stanford, Kayla is a five-time All-American and a two-time Pac-12 runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle. She represented the U.S. at the Pan American Games this past October, earning one Gold and one Silver Medal in relays.
In 2021 she made it to the semi-finals in the 200-meter freestyle and placed 16th overall. At the 2024 U.S. Team Trials, she will be swimming the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle.
On Sunday, June 16, Wilson raced in heat six of the 200m freestyle event and tied for 18th place with a time of 1:59.77.
On Tuesday, June 18, Wilson raced in heat 5 of the 100m freestyle event and placed 29th with a time of 55.33.
Nikki Venema (Virginia Beach)
Nikki Venema recently graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Psychology. She's been affiliated with TIDE Swimming for over eight years and was a multiple-time swimming state champion while attending Floyd E. Kellam High School.
At Princeton, she was a 7-time Ivy League Champion, two-time captain, and 2023 NCAA Qualifier. She will be attending Northwestern University in the fall of 2024 to carry out her fifth year of NCAA eligibility.
At her first Olympic trials in 2021, Nikki won the 100-meter butterfly wave 1 trials. In these latest trials, she has qualified to compete in the 100-meter butterfly.
On Saturday, June 15, Venema raced in heat six of the 100m butterfly event and came in 76th place, with a time of 1:02.10.
Madison Hartley (Virginia Beach)
Beach native Madison Hartley is a rising junior who is swimming and studying at the University of Kentucky. She was part of three First Colonial High School Swim and Dive State Championships and won an individual title in the 100-yard butterfly her senior year.
Madison is a first-time U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier in the 200-meter butterfly.
On Wednesday, June 18, during the 200-meter butterfly prelims, Hartley raced in heat one and finished 50th overall with a time of 2:17.57.
Samantha Tadder (Virginia Beach)
Samantha Tadder is a rising senior who swims and is majoring in Human Biology at Stanford University.
She was part of three State Championship titles while swimming at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach. She also earned several individual state titles, breaking records in the process.
This is Samantha’s second U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She is qualified to compete in the 400-meter individual medley.
On Monday, June 17, Tadder raced in heat three of the 400m individual medley event and placed 29th with a time of 4:53.42.
Gabe Nunziata (Suffolk)
Gabe Nunziata, with Old Dominion Aquatic Club, qualified to compete in the 200-meter breaststroke. On Tuesday, June 19, he finished 13th in the event with a time of 2:15:50. Gabe is the only local qualifier still in high school. He was verbally committed to swim at Tennessee after he graduates in 2025.
Cason Wilburn (Chesapeake)
Cason Wilburn, from Chesapeake, is a graduate of First Colonial High School and Notre Dame. He has qualified to compete in the 100-meter butterfly this Friday, June 21. This will be his second Olympic Trials.
On Friday, June 21, Wilburn raced in heat three of the 100m butterfly event and placed 41st with a time of 53.48.
Emily Claesson (Virginia Beach)
Emily Claesson was a standout swimmer for Kellam High School in Virginia Beach and is now a rising junior at Virginia Tech. This will be Emily's second Olympic Trials where she'll compete in the 100 meter freestyle.
On Tuesday, June 18, she tied for 36th with a time of 55.73.