INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — Carli Cronk, who broke the Deaflympic mark for most gold medals in a single Deaflympic Games when she swept her event table with twelve gold medals at the 2022 Deaflympics in Brazil, has qualified for the United States Olympic Swimming Trials. The Trials, taking place at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis from June 15-23, 2024, will see the top American swimmers vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the Paris Olympic Games taking place later this year.
Cronk, an incoming freshman at Notre Dame, qualified for the Trials in Women's 200M Butterfly with a time of 2:12.68 at the 2024 Speedo Atlanta Classic. For comparison, the Olympic 'A' Standard is 2:08.43. In the Fall of 2023, Cronk also qualified for the Women's 400M Individual Medley with a time of 4:49.45. The Olympic 'A' Standard in the event is 4:38.53.
In a September 2023 interview with The Daily Moth, Carli remarked, "I am going to the hearing US Olympic Trials to try out for the team. I never actually considered the hearing Olympics because I never thought I would be fast enough. I got my trials cut and I am going to attend trials for the experience but only the top two in each event make the team so attending Paris 2024 is really a long shot. I never say never, but the competition I will be up against is incredible.”
Cronk joins Marcus Titus (2012, 2016) and Matthew Klotz (2021) as the only Deaf Americans to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in the 21st century. USADSF Hall of Famer Jeffrey Float is the only Deaf American to represent the United States at the Olympics, captaining the Men's 4x200M Freestyle relay to a Gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Tune in to NBC and Peacock for live coverage of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials from June 15-23. Delayed coverage will also air on USA Network. Cronk's preliminary heats will take place on Monday June 17 (Women's 400M IM) and Wednesday, June 19 (Women's 200M Butterfly).