Glenview Titan Swimmer Qualifies for Olympic Trials

A Glenbrook South High School student has a chance to be on the swimming Team USA.

Sam Iida, a swimmer with the Glenview Titan Aquatic Club, qualified for the Olympic Trials recently at the Future Championships meet at Purdue University, swimming the 400-meter individual medlay in 4 minutes, 26.31 seconds. He will now compete in Omaha, Nebraska for a chance to be a part of Team USA for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

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“It was exciting and satisfying to see my time flash on the scoreboard and watch my teammates celebrate after my race,” Iida said of the moment he knew he qualified. “All my hard work is paying off.”

Iida’s 400-meter individual medley time also achieved an Illinois state record for his age group. He missed qualifying in two other Olympic Trial events, the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley, by one second.

“I was hoping to qualify for a couple more Olympic Trial events but I came up short. I have one or two more meets to try and get these cuts. I still had personal best times in most of the events I swam this weekend. That’s always the goal,” he said.