10 Things You Didn’t Know about Lily King

lily king

Perhaps you’ve heard of Lily King before the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, or perhaps you have not. It could go either way depending; she is a sort of breakout star this year. We’ve spent so much time focusing on other stars this year that we haven’t had much time to focus on her, and she’s now making quite the name for herself. For example, did you know she’s already bringing home the gold and making headlines for calling out other athletes for cheating and testing positive for drugs?

She’s not afraid to make a name for herself or to stand up for what she believes in, and we love that about her. Not only is she calling out other athletes performing at the Olympics, she’s calling out Russians. That’s always something we see in movies is a bad idea, but this is real life and she’s more than just a little bit awesome. Now that Lily King is making headlines left and right, we thought we might see what we can do to get to know her a bit better.

She began a little late

We say late very, very loosely. Lily King is not someone who began swimming when she was a baby is what we mean. A lot of other professional athletes get their start very early, such as when they are still toddlers. Lily King, however, did not. She got her start when she was 7. She began swimming because she had so much energy and her parents wanted her to find a way to calm down and actually use that energy. It was a good call on their part.

She does not like coffee

Lily King might be a star, she might work hard and she might not sleep nearly enough, but she does not get a coffee boost to help her out throughout the day. In fact, she doesn’t actually even like coffee. She’s a diet coke drinker. She gets one before every swim meet and uses that to help her get into the rhythm and the routine a bit. She’s good at it, and she’s not afraid to stay away from the coffee craze.

She’s only 19

She might be just as young as some of the other athletes who are competing on the swim team, but she has been a bit of an underdog so far. No one really expected her to take on any real merit and do anything overly impressive, but she’s more than just a little bit good at what she does and how she does it. She’s young, and she’s still got time to perfect her game.

Athletics is a family affair

Lily King gets her athletic genes honestly. She gets them from her mother and father, both of whom were college athletes. Her mother was a swimmer at two colleges. She went to Illinois State and Eastern Kentucky. Her father was a track and cross country star runner at Indiana State University. A fun fact that we kind of just assume here; her parents did not meet in college.

She’s her father’s daughter

It goes without saying that she got her athletic prowess from her parents, but she does attend college at her father’s alma mater. She attends Indiana, and she is a NCAA champion swimmer there. She’s just that good at what she does, and her school is beyond thrilled to watch her win an Olympic gold medal. She’s got a lot of fans, and now she’s got even more.

She loves dogs

If she didn’t have to spend so much time training and swimming and studying, Lily King would definitely be a dog owner. She loves them to a point that she would like to have around 10 of them just for fun. She’s a serious dog lover, and she has very little trust for people who do not also love dogs. She’s just a kind person, and that’s the kind of person that dogs love in return.

She loves Harry Potter

What amazingly awesome person does not love Harry Potter? I mean, sure, the books might be just a fraction older than she is, but who cares? They’re amazing and they’re my favorite and they’re also my own calling into the world of what some refer to as “Geekdom,” and I’m proud of it. Harry Potter is awesome and I’m willing to bet that Lily King needs a break from swimming every so often so that she can get done what she needs to get done.

She Loves Barney

No, not that Barney. Not the giant purple dinosaur. Though, to be fair, we don’t know that she doesn’t love the dinosaur or that she did not have a fondness for it when she was growing up. She may have. However, we’re discussing Barney from “HIMYM”. She is a huge fan of the show, and she can watch it on Netflix on repeat every time she turns around. We get it, too. It’s funny – and there’s nothing not to love.

Her brother swims, too

Lily King has a younger brother named Alex, and he is also a swimmer. He runs track, too, so that makes him a bit like both of their parents. He is apparently quite good in the pool, too, though he is not someone who seems to have Olympic goals in mind. Maybe that will change as he gets a little bit older; we don’t know.

Her parents have serious faith in her

There is nothing quite like the feeling of making your parents proud, but knowing that they are your biggest fans is something that does kind of count. In fact, her parents are so proud of her and so happy for her that they bought their tickets to see their daughter swim in Rio’s Olympics a month before she even qualified to go to Rio. Now that is something that you have to respect in a parent. They knew, and they were so confident that they bought tickets before they even knew.

Photo by Getty Images

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