The 2024 US Olympic Swimming Trials will be memorable for Lilly King for more reasons than one. The 27-year-old made the crowd stand in awe at the Lucas Oil Stadium as she qualified for her third straight Olympic Games. Only moments ago, she qualified for the women’s 200m breaststroke race after having secured her place in the 100m breast a couple of days earlier. But that wasn’t the only high time of the day for King.

Right after her second qualification, King was surprised by her boyfriend James Wells of the Indiana Hoosiers, a swimmer himself, as he put a ring on Lilly’s finger. A recent post on X by NBC Sports shared the emotional moment between the couple from Indianapolis.

“After Lilly King qualified for her second race for the Paris Olympics, her fiancé gave her a ring of her own,” reads the caption of the social media post as the accompanying post shows a flummoxed King as his boyfriend of four years went down on his knees and went the whole stretch. However, while Lilly looked all flabbergasted, it seemed like the folks in the commentary room had some knowledge of what was about to go down as they hinted at what was to come.

Weels told King that their journey has been “awesome” as they have both grown over the years before pulling out the ring from his back pocket and popping the question. Lilly didn’t take much time before saying “YES!” and all the people surrounding them broke into a loud cheer and applause. As they embark on the next chapter of their lives, let’s take a look at how Lilly and James’ relationship has evolved through the years.

Lilly King’s fiance is never far from her side

Lilly’s socials are filled with photos of herself and James at various places as they can seldom be seen without broad grins on their faces as they stand fondly beside each other. From attending Golden Goggle events in New York to just spending some quality time between themselves and their furry four-legged buddy, life looks quaint for the swimming couple. While Lilly can sometimes pose a little awkwardly, it’s evident that James never fails to make her smile whatever they’re doing.

On the other hand, the former Indiana student also is determined to stand in his fiance’s corner and he’s ready to take the necessary steps to do so. After his time with the Hoosiers, the former Big 10 champ moved to California to train for the 2016 Olympics, but once he found Lilly, moving halfway across the country wasn’t a decision he had to ponder about, as James also mentions in the recent social media post.

Now, as another Olympic Games stare King in the face, it remains to be seen if the latest development in her personal life provides any boost to her performances in Paris and gives her the throttle she needs to rake in more accolades in her third consecutive appearance for Team USA on the big stage.