{"id":589359,"date":"2024-07-04T08:51:42","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T15:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=589359"},"modified":"2024-07-04T06:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T13:52:18","slug":"isabelle-odgers-basks-in-first-olympic-trials-final-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/isabelle-odgers-basks-in-first-olympic-trials-final-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Isabelle Odgers Basks in First Olympic Trials Final Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isabelle Odgers walked out to the thunderous applause of an Olympic Trials final.<\/p>\n

The former All-American at USC and former Swimming World intern had never experienced a race of quite that magnitude.<\/p>\n

But there she was walking out for the final of the 200 breaststroke with a chance of making an Olympic team.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Kate Douglass<\/strong> and Lilly King<\/strong> and an extremely stacked field kept that from happening, but Odgers finished seventh and will never forget that experience.<\/p>\n

“It was incredible. I felt really lucky to be in the final. In 2021, I made semifinals,” Isabelle Odgers said. “It was so cool. I waved up to my family. I have never swum in anything like this with the noise and the people. I really wanted to have that experience swimming in the top eight. There are some incredible swimmers there.”<\/p>\n

For Odgers, the race also came with the validation that she belongs in that incredible group. Very few swimmers can say they made an Olympic Trials final.<\/p>\n

“It is really awesome that swimming is getting this kind of platform in Lucas Oil Stadium. All the people here are contributing to some really fast racing. You can see it with the world records and the fast times.”<\/p>\n

Odgers spent the past year as a professional after graduating from USC last year, a shift in the journey after always having to balance school.<\/p>\n

“This year was hard. I didn’t realize what it would be like with swimming being the one main thing,” she said. “The transition to pro was definitely a little more difficult, but I had some amazing people around me to help with that transition.”<\/p>\n

Odgers is not planning on being done swimming just yet. She is still getting better – and enjoying the sport<\/p>\n

“I still love it. As long as I love it, I am going to keep doing it,” Isabelle Odgers said. “I have some people that believe in me, sometimes more than I believe in myself. I know that because think I can do it, I can do it. There are things I still want to accomplish in the sport.”<\/p>\n