No Olympic sport has brought home the hardware for Team USA quite like swimming. To make that medal stand, these swimmers practically live in the pool, and Owasso's Patrick Callan is no different.
Callan says he spends hours a day in the pool. "How many hours in the pool? We're here for six days a week, and usually four hours a day. We don't have time for much else."
The Bishop Kelley student is just 16 years old. Callan says he wasn't expecting to qualify for the Olympic Trials this summer. "Back in Indianapolis, I just kind of gave it my last shot and I ended up making it, so it was really surprising to me."
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Callan was in the same pool with the best in the world in Omaha. "You grow up watching all those guys, they're your idols, and being able to walk around and see them around the building, it was pretty fun."
The young swimmer's specialty is the 200 meters, but for Cayden and Al, well it wasn't happening. Instead, Patrick swam 50 meters while Cayden and Al relayed it and went 25 meters apiece.
About a second after Big Al finished his 25 meters, Patrick finished his 50 meters. As Cayden struggled to the finish, Callan had some time to kill with our 2 for the gold teammate, Sunny, from the KVOO crew.
Finally Cayden touched the wall. The time? Just over one minute. That's not even half as fast as Callan, who has four years to shave about four seconds off his time in the 200 meters if he wants to make it to Tokyo.
"This year, I dropped three seconds off my time in the 200 meters, so really hoping to drop four in the next 4 years. Every kid has a dream of making the Olympic team and getting this close motivates you to make it next time."
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