‘Once in a lifetime’: Wichita native Ariana Dirkzwager will swim in Paris Olympics
Like most young swimmers, Ariana Dirkzwager was captivated every four years watching the world’s best compete in the Olympics.
She’s still trying to comprehend the recent news that she will be living out a childhood dream.
The Wichita native and 2022 East High graduate, whose mother is Laotian, has been selected to represent Laos in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she will compete in the women’s 200-meter freestyle at 4 a.m. Central Time on Sunday, July 28.
“I’m the most excited person in the world right now,” Dirkzwager told The Eagle. “This is everyone’s dream. When you’re 6 years old, you want to go to the Olympics. For it to actually happen, I think if I was still a 6-year-old kid, I would be like, ‘No way, I don’t believe it.’ I’ve been wanting this for so long and I’m just super ecstatic to be able to represent Laos and compete with all of these big names in Paris.”
The Olympic qualifying process for Laos is much different than the United States.
Because Laos is a relatively small country, tucked away in the southeast corner of Asia with a population of 7.5 million, it received Universality places, which are designed to increase the diversity of participating nations and go to underrepresented countries.
Dirkzwager earned the sole female Universality spot for Laos by competing in the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar this year and the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last year. Her time in the 200 free (2 minutes, 8.55 seconds) was the highest-ranked time for any Laotian female swimmer in an event.
The Wichita native said she is proud to be able to represent her Laotian heritage on the world stage.
“I was born in Wichita, but I still feel very much connected to the culture and traditions of Laos because I was basically raised by my mom’s side of the family,” Dirkzwager said. “I have six other aunts and uncles who all came to Wichita too, so we basically brought the Laos community to Wichita. I’m honestly so excited to be able to represent Laos and the small communities all around the U.S. and the mainland and hopefully I can make everyone proud.”
She has certainly made her Wichita swimming community proud, as Wichita East High and Wichita Swim Club has celebrated the news since Dirkzwager found out last Wednesday.
Dirkzwager was a seven-time state champion at East, where she won four individual gold medals and still owns the City League record in the 100-yard freestyle. Ariana and her older sister, Astrid, are both currently swimmers on the Georgia Tech women’s swim and dive team, where Ariana just completed her sophomore year in college.
“We knew right from the beginning that she was special,” East coach Joe Hutchinson said. “As a freshman, she was already swimming the same times as the best in Kansas were swimming. And what really stood out to me about Ari was how much she loved being on a team.
“She really enjoyed all of the swimmers, not just the fast ones. She was a great teammate and always helped out our younger kids who weren’t as experienced and helped them get faster by just being there and working out with them.”
East has one of the strongest traditions and histories in the state of Kansas with Dirkzwager adding another chapter.
“Being able to swim in the Olympics means you’re one of the best swimmers in the world,” Hutchinson said. “It’s really so exciting for her and her family. This is really a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing, so we’re all super excited for her in Wichita.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 12:13 PM with the headline "‘Once in a lifetime’: Wichita native Ariana Dirkzwager will swim in Paris Olympics."
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