BUDAPEST — When 16-year-old swimmer Leah Hayes at last sat down for dinner after the final day of April’s world championships trials, she rested her head on the table. Her father asked if she was OK.
Hayes looked up, said she was fine and added, “It’s just a lot.”
Nancy Hooper, Hayes’ coach in the western suburbs of Chicago, was also there for the meal. She remembered that moment in North Carolina in detail.
“There weren’t tears, but you could tell she was really emotional,” Hooper said. “And we said, ‘It is a lot, Leah. But it is time for you to take a deep breath, sit here and totally enjoy this.'”
Hours earlier, Hayes qualified for the U.S. team by finishing second in the 200m individual medley in her fourth and final event of the five-day meet.
She was the 41st and final swimmer to make the roster for the world championships, which began here Saturday at the Duna Arena.
Her presence on the team, which includes Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel, surprised Hayes, who came to trials hoping to qualify for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
“It’s just such an overwhelming feeling of joy,” Hayes said in a poolside TV interview at trials on April 30.
She was the first U.S. swimmer to race in Budapest and was up for the moment, blasting a personal-best time to advance to Saturday night’s 200m individual medley semifinals as the second seed.
SWIMMING WORLDS: TV Schedule
Hayes ranks third in the world this year in the 200m IM, trailing Olympic silver medalist Alex Walsh of the U.S. and Australian Kaylee McKeown, who swept the backstroke golds in Tokyo.
“I know that she couldn’t be more ready,” Hooper said before the meet. “She needs to take that passion that she has, that she always races with, get on the blocks and let it
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