‘I always represent Wichita’: Drayden Bell prepares for U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
Wichita native Drayden Bell is set to fulfill a lifelong dream and compete in the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials on Thursday.
The 2022 Northeast Magnet graduate, who was a seven-time state champion for East High and just completed his sophomore season at Alabama, will swim in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries at 11 a.m. Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The preliminaries will be available to watch on streaming through Peacock, while the semifinals, held at 8:25 p.m. Thursday, and the finals, held at 8:30 p.m. Friday, will be broadcast on NBC.
.JPG "_MG_4469 (2).JPG")
Bell is the first former East swimmer to qualify for the prestigious event since Patrick Donohue in 2000. Another Wichita native Ben Patton, a Trinity Academy graduate, qualified for the 2020 trials.
“This is definitely a dream come true,” Bell told The Eagle. “I remember watching the Olympics with my grandpa when I was kid and thinking that was so cool. So this definitely means a lot to be in this position. I know I’m out here in Alabama now, but I always represent Wichita.”
The official start list in the 50 free is not yet available, but Bell is expected to be joined by several dozens of swimmers competing to secure one of the 16 spots reserved for the semifinals.
Just qualifying for the Trials proves to Bell, who recorded a career-best time of 22.57 seconds to earn a spot in Indianapolis, that he is among the best in the country. Everything from here on out is considered icing on the cake.
“The toughest part was just getting there, so now that I’ve got it, I’m going to be relaxed and go out there and have some fun and see what I can do,” Bell said. “I always have that competitive mindset and I want to do my best, but we have the top 0.5 percent in the country at this meet. So I’m going to go there and know I’ve been grinding day after day to make sure my 50 free is the best that it can be. When the buzzer does go off, I just turn off my brain and let my body do what it knows to do and see how far I can go.”
.jpg)