INDIANAPOLIS — Before she can place another Olympic medal around her neck, Lilly King put an engagement ring on her finger.
The Hoosier swimmer added a second team berth Thursday on Day 6 of the U.S. Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. What really made it her night was what followed.
King, 27, became engaged to James Wells, 32, of Phippsburg, Maine. She waved her finger showing the ring when she was introduced to the crowd.
Before the public romance played out, Alex Shackell became the first out of the storied Carmel High School girls program to make an Olympic team. Shackell, 17, finished second in the 200-meter butterfly.
Wells, a former Indiana University backstroker, is best friend of Cody Miller, a former IU breaststroker. Miller won two medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
RELATED: Lilly King says 'yes' after earning Olympic spot; Carmel's Alex Shackell secures spot in Paris
An NBC microphone picked up some of Wells’ proposal to King:
“In and out of the pool, and just to see you grow has been so awesome. And I don’t regret for a minute dropping my job and moving halfway across the country. It has been awesome. I am very excited. So, here is the ring. Will you . . . “
Wells could not finish the sentence.
“Yes, yes,” King said.
In the pool, she clawed back from a deficit through 150 meters to finish second in the 200-meter breaststroke, overtaking Alex Walsh.
Kate Douglass finished first in 2:19.46, just off her American record of 2:19.30. King clocked 2:21.93 and Walsh 2:22.38.
Top two qualify for the Paris Olympics. King, winner of the 100 breaststroke, will be the first American to swim both breaststrokes in three successive Olympics.
At a pre-trials news conference, King announced she would not continue competing up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Shackell, meanwhile, is just getting started.
Five days after her brother made the Olympic team, she did. The 17-year-old had tentatively made it by finishing sixth in the 200 freestyle Monday, but this outcome assures it.
Alex’s brother, Aaron, 19, won the 400 freestyle on Day 1 Saturday. The siblings’ father, Nick, represented Great Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Times were not as fast as in Wednesday’s heats and semifinals.
Regan Smith, who set a world record Tuesday in the 100 backstroke, won the 200 butterfly in 2:05.70.
Shackell, in third place at 100 meters but first at 150, had a time of 2:06.69. Lindsay Looney was third in 2:07.03.
On Wednesday, Smith and Shackell won their respective semifinals in 2:04.91 and 2:06.10. In doing so, Shackell broke the national 17-18 record of 2:06.39 set by Smith in 2020.
Capping another momentous night for Indiana swimming was Will Modglin, who shockingly made the final of the 200 individual medley after arriving seeded 28th.
Modglin, 20, twice a national high school swimmer of the year at Zionsville, is coming off his freshman season at Texas. He was 17th in heats of the 200 IM but made the cut to 16 semifinalists after one swimmer scratched.
He was third in a semifinal in 1:58.44 – three seconds faster than his seed – and eighth overall. Date compiled by SwimSwam revealed only 28% of swimmers have improved seed times at this trials, and Modglin has done so in 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle and 200 IM. He finished sixth in the 100 backstroke.
Elsewhere, Ryan Murphy won a third trials in the 200 backstroke, clocking 1:54.33. Notre Dame's Chris Guiliano had the top time, 21.59, in semifinals of the 50 freestyle -- .02 ahead of Caeleb Dressel and Jack Alexy.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.