EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – With Lilly King’s work all wrapped up at the Trials, now she can turn her attention to her third-straight Olympic games, this time heading to Paris.
In the lead up to the games, we have plenty of time to look back on how she got here.
Around 2008, current Boonville assistant athletic director Mike Chapman became Lilly King’s age group coach.
From the beginning, ‘Day one,’ he told us, he saw she was different, but it wasn’t until a big state meet that he really started to see her potential as a world star in the sport.
“When she was 11, she had one state cut, the age group state meet, and she finished last,” said Lilly King’s age group coach, Mike Chapman. “She beat one girl, but that girl got disqualified. Then, the next year, she won the 100 breaststroke at 12. We were going up for the meet, and all week, she was saying, “I’m going to win, I’m going to win, I’m going to win.” She was seeded seventh or eighth. We said, ‘okay.’ She qualified fourth and then won it that night.”
Always fun to hear stories about a world-class athlete from when they were younger, we will hear more from coach Chapman in the leadup to the Olympics.
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