Meet Carson Foster, the 22-year-old swimmer who secured 400m IM qualification for Paris 2024 after spectacular display at U.S. Olympic trials

Carson Foster is a 22-year-old swimmer who has just punched a ticket to Paris for his debut Olympic Games. The youngster won the 400m individual medley ahead of Tokyo gold and silver medalists, Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland, in the event to take home the crown.

Foster entered the finals as the World Championships silver medalist in the event in both 2022 and 2023. For the Ohio native, who touched the wall in 4:07.64, the victory was sweet revenge for the 2021 Trials, when both Kalisz and Litherland had outdone him in the finals.

In light of this phenomenal performance, here is everything you need to know about the up-and-coming Olympian.

Carson Foster's family and hometown

Foster was born to parents Jim and Michelle Foster on October 26, 2001. He grew up in Ohio, Cincinnati, and has two older siblings, Hannah and Jake. Both of them are swimmers as well, with Hannah having swam for the University of Tennessee, while Jake is a part of the Texas Longhorns.

How did Carson Foster take up swimming?

The swimmer and his siblings took up the sport at a young age because their parents wanted to teach them water safety. While the Foster brothers were initially inclined towards different sports, they ended up focusing on swimming because of their sister Hannah.

“We grew up playing other sports, but (Hannah) was on the swim team and we got dragged along,” Jake Foster once told The Daily Texan.

Carson Foster's coach

Carson Foster is currently coached by Eddie Reese, the swimming head coach at the University of Texas. Reese was also the men's head coach of the US Olympic Swim Team in 2004 and 2008 and has led the Texas Longhorns to 15 NCAA Championship titles.

In his younger days, Foster was a part of the Mason Manta Rays Swimming Club, where he trained under Ken Heis.

Carson Foster's Education

Foster verbally committed to the University of Texas in March of 2018, and joined the Longhorns in the 2020-2021 season. According to the 22-year-old, a major reason for him signing with Texas was because of his brother, who was also a part of the program.

“We took all of our visits together, and Jake decided to commit to Texas because that is where he felt most at home and would better his future. After he did that, it did not take me long at all to think I love Texas,” he told The Daily Texan in 2020.

Foster is majoring in Communication and Leadership at the University of Texas. After spending three seasons with the team, the swimmer announced last month that he was foregoing his remaining eligibility to turn pro.

Carson Foster's career highlights

Foster made a name for himself in the swimming world at the tender age of ten, when he breached Michael Phelps’ National Age Group record in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 29.91.

The swimmer continued to make a name for himself in the junior circuit, winning seven World Junior Championships medals, four of which were gold. He also won four titles at the 2018 Junior Pan Pac Championships.

At the 2020 Olympic Trials, Foster barely missed out on making the team, finishing third in the 400m individual medley. He made up for this heartbreak at the 2022 Budapest World Championships, where he won the 4x200m relay, and finished with a silver in the 200 and 400m individual medley.

The 22-year-old added five more medals to his collection at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships. Foster is a three-time gold and silver medalist, as well as a two-time bronze medalist at the World Short Course Championships.