Mark and Ginny King celebrate Lilly’s ticket to Tokyo

OMAHA, Neb. (WFIE) - Evansville native and Reitz High School graduate Lilly King is the queen of U.S. Swimming once again.

On Tuesday, she won the 100-meter breaststroke final at the Team USA trials, punching her ticket to Tokyo.

[PREVIOUS: Evansville’s Lilly King places 1st in Olympic trial finals, advances to Tokyo]

Her parents, Mark and Ginny, say they were able to give Lilly a quick hug right after the race, before the two-time Olympic gold medalist was swept away for interviews and testing.

It wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon when the proud parents were able to sit down with their daughter for lunch.

“We went out and celebrated without her,” says Ginny, laughing, “with our friends and some of her coaches. So that’s kind of what we did after the race.”

Believe it or not, Ginny says they didn’t really even talk about the race during lunch - the one where her daughter solidified her spot on Team USA.

“We just had lunch and just chit-chatted,” says Ginny. “Who did you see, what’s the gossip, and that kind of thing.”

Even though Wednesday is technically Lilly’s “off day,” Ginny says Lilly was in the pool preparing for Thursday’s 200-meter breaststroke prelim, less than 24 hours after punching her ticket to Tokyo.

Tuesday night’s win was also no exception for one of Lilly’s race traditions.

”She always takes her medal off and gives it to a kid in the stands,” says Ginny, “passing it off to somebody in the next generation that’s coming up, so that’s always kind of fun to watch.”

Lilly’s 200-meter breaststroke preliminary race is slated for Thursday morning, with prelims scheduled for that evening.

The final for the 200-meter is set for Friday, June 18 at 8 p.m. on WFIE.

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