ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is a 70,000-seat football stadium on Sundays in the fall.
The football field is now being transformed into two massive swimming pools for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, and one of the athletes who’ll be swimming in those pools lives and trains in Metro Detroit.
University of Michigan Swim and Dive team member Hannah Bellard, an Olympic hopeful, says being in the water is where she feels at home.
In the water is where Hannah Bellard truly feels at home.
“It’s kind of like my escape, I like to call it,” said Bellard. “My mind kind of goes blank, and it’s a nice little reset and relaxer.”
Bellard grew up in Grosse Ile, where her family has a house on the water. So she’s been accustomed to swimming since she was a kid.
“My grandparents have a house on the water, so being around there, the main thing was water safety,” Bellard said. “And we just started doing lessons and I really enjoyed it. But I never thought it would get to this point.”
Bellard is one of the state’s top swimmers and a member of the U.S. Jr. Swim Team, which finished first at the World Juniors in Israel last year.
Bellard had just finished her freshman year swimming at the University of Michigan, but her next goal was to earn a spot in the Olympics during the trials.
“I am just ready to go,” Bellard said. “I am anxious to go, and I’m just excited to go and get there and see it. We haven’t had many breaks. We had Big Tens, NCAAs, and meets leading up to Olympic trials. It’s been nonstop, but I’m excited to see it all payoff.”
“She had some ups and downs in the college season, but she bounced back really well,” said University of Michigan Swimming Head Coach Matt Bowe. “I saw someone that refocused and thought, ‘OK, I know how to get out of this; I know how to push myself harder than I ever have.’”
Bellard will race in three events for the second time at the trials. She last participated in them in 2021, when she was just 16 years old.
This time, she’s more experienced and comfortable ahead of the competition.
“I was just going for the experience, and now I’m hoping to make it to a second swim and to just enjoy the experience again,” Bellard said.
Making the Olympic games is tough, but Bellard knows what it takes going into the trials.
She is jumping in head first, as ready as she can be with a chance to make Team USA alongside the best in the country.
“I’ve been racing against them, I see them at meets,” Bellard said. “I think that’s prepared me, but the Olympic Trials are said to be the most stressful meet ever. So I don’t know if anyone can be truly prepared for it.”
The Michigan Wolverines will be well-represented at the trials, and starting this weekend, 18 swimmers will be trying to earn a spot on Team USA.