Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy to compete at the FINA World Swimming Cup in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A competition featuring the top swimmers in the world begins Thursday in Indianapolis.
The IU Natatorium at IUPUI will host the third and final leg of the 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup. It’s the first FINA World Swimming Cup series event in the U.S. since 2006.
Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy is considered one of the biggest names on this leg of the tour. Murphy holds four Olympic gold medals and holds the American record in the 100-meter long course backstroke.
In June, he competed in the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and won gold in the 200-meter backstroke.
For this week’s competition, he will compete in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter backstroke and the 100-meter individual medley.
News 8 spoke with Murphy, who explained what it means to swim in Indianapolis, the home of the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
“Being able to race in a place like this will be consequential in my swimming career. I never want to swim badly out here, but it is great to step up next to some of the best in the world. I get next to them and learn a lot about where I am currently in training. I think about the technique and race strategy. Coming out of this meet, I will have a lot of good takeaways on how I can improve moving forward,” Murphy said.
Murphy joins fellow American swimmers Shaine Casas and Coleman Stewart. Stewart is the world record holder in the short course 100-meter backstroke.
Murphy says this is a world-class competition and he will be looking to set good times.
“The competition out here is as good as it can get. I will be competing at the Indianapolis World Cup and we have some of the best swimmers in the world. We have the world record holder in my events. The world record holder in short course yards, meters, and long course meters compete will all compete in the same race together. The competition is going to be stacked. It is such a great barometer for this point of the year.”
Find out more about the FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 at the FINA website.
Indianapolis will host the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for swimming in June 2024. The event has never happened on a football field but will be staged at Lucas Oil Stadium. While Murphy says, he is excited to compete in the trials in the next two years. But, for now, he’s focused on the world cup, which will set the tone for the year.
The world cup starts Thursday and will end Saturday.