Sean Ryan is going to the Olympics.
The former McCallie School swimmer and Hixson resident finished fourth in the 10K open-water event on Monday morning in Kazan, Russia, to guarantee himself a spot in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"Could you hear me screaming?" asked his McCallie coach, Stan Corcoran, at 7 a.m. Monday after watching the race live on the Internet. "Because I was pretty loud. It's a year and a month before Rio and Sean's already in."
Michigan swimmer and McCallie School alumnus Sean Ryan is going to the Olympics.Actually, two Americans are in, since Jordan Wilimovsky -- who also bested Ryan at the U.S. Nationals in April -- won Monday's race. By Olympic rules, the only way one country can have two participants in the 10K is for both to finish in the top 10 in the initial qualifier. A second qualifier in 2016 will be held to fill out the final 15 spots for Rio.
The 23-year-old Ryan -- who had the 25th best qualifying time for the 2012 Games but failed to make the team -- will now return to the University of Michigan, where he was a five-time All-American, to work on is master's in manufacturing engineering and train for the Games.
Read more in Tuesday's Times Free Press.