American Swimmer Lilly King Gets Engaged Right After Qualifying for Olympics

The Team USA athlete, who is headed to Paris, got a surprise proposal from boyfriend James Wells on Thursday.

Lilly King / Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

On Thursday morning, American swimmer Lilly King was getting in the zone preparing for her second Olympic trial, hoping to qualify for the 200-meter breaststroke race (she’s already set to compete in the 100-meter breaststroke). But, the Team USA athlete left the Lucas Oil Stadium as more than just eligible to head to Paris. She also secured a new title of fiancée!

The Indiana native, who made an incredible comeback in the last 50 meters of her latest race, got out of the pool feeling excited and proud of herself. Little did she know a surprise was also waiting for her.

King’s boyfriend, James Wells, pulled her to the side and offered the most heartfelt message before getting down on one knee and popping the question.

After Lilly King qualified for her second race for the Paris Olympics, her fiancé gave her a ring of her own. 💍 #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/UgnfeyJYgO

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 21, 2024

“Getting to watch you over the last four years, both in and out of the pool, just to see you grow has been so awesome. I don’t regret for a minute dropping my job and moving halfway across the country for us to move in together. It’s been awesome. I’m very excited to see where this goes,” he gushed.

Halfway through his speech, King pointed at someone off camera with a huge smile and recalled that her friend Annie told her to put her hair down. She said yes to the proposal numerous times and the pair shared a sweet embrace.

“Lilly did the bid for this pool, and having this being in her home state is so incredible. All of us that swam at IU together [are here]. This is such a powerful swimming state and it just menans so much to be here in front of this crowd. So I was like, ‘That’s the perfect opportunity to [propose],’” Wells said in a interview with NBC after the moment.

A proposal at #SwimTrials24! 😍

Lilly King was surprised with an engagement from her boyfriend, James, after qualifying for a second event for the #ParisOlympics this summer. pic.twitter.com/K7uUMNrWzk

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 21, 2024

King revealed that it truly was a surprise and while she had an inkling he might propose after the Paris games while the couple were still in Europe, she really wasn’t expecting it to happen on Thursday.

“It was already an unbelievable week to start off with, making my third Olympic team, obviously could not be more special, and then now I’m getting married,” she exclaimed. “It’s just unbelievably special. We’re a swimming state. I’m really proud of that. And I’m glad to represent us.”

The 27-year-old competed in the Olympics in 2016 and 2020, has won two gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

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