Mobile’s Paige Madden secures spot on Olympic swim team
Mobile native Paige Madden locked up a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic swim team when she finished third in the 200-meter freestyle at the USA Swimming U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Monday night in Indianapolis.
Madden, 25, is assured of a spot on the U.S. team for the 4×200-meter relay, the same event in which she won a silver medal in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She had earned a provisional spot on Team USA by finishing second (behind Ledecky) in the 400-meter freestyle on Saturday.
A UMS-Wright graduate and former NCAA champion at the University of Virginia, Madden was third in the 200 behind four-time Olympian Katie Ledecky and runner-up Claire Weinstein. Erin Gemmell clinched the final spot on the relay team by finishing fourth.
Madden is believed to be just the fourth Mobilian — and second woman — to compete for the United States in the Olympics in any sport, following Mabel Walker Thornton (track & field, 1948), Casey Converse (swimming, 1976) and DeMarcus Cousins (basketball, 2016). Madden was just the second Mobilian to earn an Olympic medal after Cousins took gold with Team USA in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. Olympic swim trials continue through Saturday. The 2024 Olympics take place July 26-Aug. 11 in Paris.