Wichita swimmer Drayden Bell punches his ticket to 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
In his last chance, Wichita native Drayden Bell came through with the time he needed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials.
The 2022 Northeast Magnet graduate, who competed in swimming for East High, clocked in with a career-best time of 22.57 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle — comfortably inside the target goal of 22.79 seconds — at the AESC Summer Splash meet in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Saturday. He cut more than a half-second from his previous best time at Alabama, where Bell just completed his sophomore season in college.
Bell punched his ticket to the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held in Indianapolis from June 15-23. He is believed to be the first former East swimmer to qualify for the prestigious event since Patrick Donohue in 2000. Wichita native Ben Patton, a Trinity Academy graduate, qualified for the 2020 trials.
“The 50 is such a tough race because there really is no room for error,” East swimming coach Joe Hutchinson said. “If you’re swimming a longer race, you can have a not-so-good start and make up for it during the race. But in the 50, everything has to click on that day at the same time. Getting all of the pieces to come together is a strength of Drayden, and not everybody has that.”
Bell came hundredths of a second from qualifying in the event for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials when he was a sophomore in high school.
He went on to have a historic career for the Blue Aces, winning seven Class 6A state championships with one silver medal and earning six All-American honors. He still owns school records at the most prestigious Wichita program in three of the four strokes and was undefeated in his career following his freshman season.
Following his second season at Alabama, Bell had been closing in on the time standard needed to qualify. He raced three weeks ago in Atlanta, where he clocked in at 22.85 — less than a tenth of a second away from the qualifying time.
“That just shows you his determination and his work ethic and his focus,” Hutchinson said. “He’s a special talent, not just for East High School but for Wichita and really Kansas. And he’s just gotten faster in college. It’s from the effort he puts into it year-round.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2024 at 3:00 PM.
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