Bella Sims is a competitive swimmer who represents the United States internationally. At the 2021 Olympic Trials, at the age of 16, Sims qualified for the Olympic Team as a member of the 4×200 free relay by finishing 5th in the 200 free.
National/International Career
Coming into the 2021 Olympic Trials, Bella Sims was already getting quite a bit of attention. She had hit the most Olympic Trial cuts of any swimmer in the country (11) and ended up competing in 4 events at the Wave II meet: 100, 200, 800 free, and 100 fly.
She was also ranked #1 in SwimSwam’s Way Too Early Recruit Ranks for the Class of 2023, which came out on June 3, 2021, just before the trials started.
2021 Olympic Trials (Omaha, Nebraska)
In Omaha, Sims started her program with the 100 fly on day 1, tying for 33rd in a time of 1:00.02. In her next event, the 200 free, she made huge strides, qualifying for the final and ultimately finishing 5th in 1:57.53, earning her a spot on the Olympic team for the 4×200 free relay. This made her the lowest seed (39th) to make the US Olympic swimming team since 2000.
She finished the meet by swimming prelims of the 100 free (48th, 56.48) and prelims/finals of the 800 free, finishing 5th overall at 8:23.55.
2020 Olympic Games
At her first Olympic Games, Sims led off the 800 free relay in the prelims, splitting 1:58.59 to help the US advance to the final. The team would go on to finish 2nd, netting Sims a silver medal.
2022 World Championship Trials
In Greensboro, Bella made her first world championships team by finishing 5th in the 200 free (1:57.71). She also went a slue of personal bests, including in the 400 free (4:06.61, 3rd), 800 free (8:22.36, 3rd), 1500 free (16:15.87, 3rd), and 200 fly (2:11.42, time trial).
2022 World Championships
In Budapest, Sims made the most of her 2 relay swims. On day 5 in the prelims of 800 free relay, Sims anchored USA’s relay in 1:55.91, helping them secure a spot in the final and earning herself a swim on the night relay. In the final, Sims anchored once again, going over a second faster than she did in prelims to bring USA home in 1:54.60 for gold in a new championship record.
