WATCH: 14-year-old Audrey Derivaux dominates 400m individual medley to qualify for finals of U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials 2024

By Abhiruchi Rout

Modified Jun 17, 2024 17:50 GMT

Audrey Derivaux hogged the spotlight at the 2024 U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials by advancing into the finals of the women’s 400m individual medley, taking place at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Derivaux qualified for the finals as the eighth-seeded swimmer by topping heat 3 as she recorded a swim of 4:45.23 in the 400m individual medley heats. This performance was also a personal best for the 14-year-old, with her previous best time being 4:49.32, which she achieved during the 2023 U.S. Summer Junior National Championships.

USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport in the United States, shared a video of Audrey Derivaux’s performance (via NBC Olympics & Paralympics) during the heats, which has taken her to the finals in her first U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials. One can view the video, uploaded on X (formerly Twitter), here:

Emma Weyant, the silver medalist in the 400m individual medley at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, emerged as the top seed with the best performance in the heats, clocking 4:38.96s, to storm into the finals.

The two-time World Championships long course silver medalist, Katie Grimes, finished second as she recorded a time of 4:39.63. Meanwhile, Stanford University sophomore Lucy Bell placed third with a time of 4:40.79.

The finals for the women’s 400m individual medley are scheduled to take place on June 17 during the evening session. The top two swimmers will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Weyant and Hali Flickinger were the two swimmers who went on to represent the United States at the Tokyo Olympics after occupying the top two spots in the finals of the 400m individual medley at the 2020 U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials.

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A look at Audrey Derivaux’s 2023 season

Katie Forrester (R) competes against Audrey Derivaux (L) in the Women's 200m Butterfly final on Day 2 of the TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio at Northside Swim Center on April 11, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

At the 2023 Middle Atlantic Senior Championships held in March, Audrey Derivaux earned four gold medals in the 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley, 200-yard backstroke, and 200-yard individual medley, respectively.

She then went on to compete at the Speedo Junior National Championships in July, where she set the Middle Atlantic Swimming record (13-14 years) in the 200m backstroke and 100m butterfly (long course) events.

Derivaux again established three Middle Atlantic Swimming records in the 200-yard backstroke, butterfly, and individual medley events at the Speedo Winter Junior Championship East held in December 2023.