Indianapolis, IN
‘Red Carpet Treatment’ of Indianapolis Olympic Trials Could Open Door for Other Big Venues
‘Red Carpet Treatment’ of Indianapolis Olympic Trials Could Open Door for Other Big Venues
U.S. Olympic Trials won’t be the last swimming event held in an NFL stadium. World Aquatics made that official on Friday.
The success of the event at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium opens the door for more swim meets to expand beyond their previous attendance limits, USA Swimming President and CEO Tim Hinchey said Friday.
Hinchey said that the meet in Indianapolis has exceeded expectations on several fronts, including the target for ticket sales. USA Swimming had aimed to set the record for attendance at an indoor swim meet, which it did with 20,689 spectators Saturday’s opening night and 22,209 Wednesday. Hinchey also aimed for a nighty average of around 16,000, using the 2016 Rio Olympics as its guide. The attendance is well over that: Three of the first five prelims sessions topped 16,000, and only one finals session has fallen under it.
“We’ve surpassed that significantly,” Hinchey said. “We’ll do a lot of debrief when we get down into the analysis that we’ll share with everybody openly about how many tickets we sold and how we did it. One of the unique learnings here was the 17 individual sessions versus what we’ve had previously, it gave people a chance to really pick and choose what they wanted.
“We’ve never had walk-up before. We’ve never had tickets on sale the day of before. So we’re watching those trends quite a bit to see what we’ve been doing. That has been a pleasant surprise, because selling those nine-day packages is really consistent with the endemic swim families that we’ve done previously. So we kind of had that audience early, just like we had a lot.”
The Indianapolis program is much vaster than in the past. The COVID-19-affected 2021 Trials notwithstanding, USA Swimming has gone from eight days, 15 sessions and around 9,800 tickets to sell in Omaha in 2016 to nine days, 17 sessions and a capacity up to 32,000 spectators. Add in some 50 suites and a set of premium options and inclusive packages, and USA Swimming has gotten creative with its offerings.
Hinchey said his big concern entering the meet was the ticket-selling infrastructure, and USA Swimming has leaned on the Indiana Sports Corporation to bolster their efforts there. The growth of walk-up sales and other activations like the fan zone, which is drawing around 10,000 visitors a day, are a big part of what’s making the event successful.
“It’s incredibly important to me,” Hinchey said of the sponsorship with the city and Indiana Sports Corporation. “I think they’ve shown that this week, I think some of the feedback we’ve received more than anything has been, just fan reactions walking to the airport, all lanes lead to Indy, looking at Georgia Street. When they were talking about the kind of activations they were going to do, we were incredibly excited. And I feel like for the first time in a long time, our sport’s gotten the red carpet treatment here as hosts.”
The proof of concept of a temporary pool in a larger stadium opens the possibility for more. Hinchey said that the request for proposal process for 2024 trials involved four finalists: Indianapolis, Omaha, St. Louis and Minneapolis. The latter two candidates have visited Indy this week, and the kind of infrastructure that makes Indianapolis work is the kind that a handful of major cities have to host such an event.
Hinchey stresses that it doesn’t have to be a football stadium. But with this step taken, it would be a priority to push the momentum toward something as big or bigger next time around.
“Once you take something to the next level, it’s hard to kind of go backwards,” he said. “So I think we’ve set an expectation. And there’s a lot of things we’ve learned from this, there’s a lot of things we can do better. And I’m excited about that prospect.”
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police have arrested a man in connection with two attacks, including one deadly, near Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis earlier this month.
29-year-old Michael Willis is facing two counts of attempted murder. Police say that the attacks happened on June 19 and June 26, both happening on N Senate Ave. near Monument Circle.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8, on June 19, Willis was walking in the area near Monument Circle around 2 a.m. when he approached a person laying down and repeatedly stomped on them. Police say that this first victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The first victim died on Sunday due to their injuries sustained from Willis’s attack, documents say.
Police also say that on June 26, Willis attacked a different person at the same location near Monument Circle. Police believe that the second victim was repeatedly kicked and stomped on while they were lying down as well. This second attack also took place around 2 a.m.
Indiana State Police detectives shared surveillance photos of Willis from the attacks with other police agencies in an attempt to identify him. Police say Willis was identified by a Greensborough Police Sergeant after Willis had asked the sergeant to use his cell phone.
Police then approached Willis and detained him. Police say that when Willis was detained, he was wearing the same clothes that were seen in the surveillance footage of both attacks. Officers also noticed blood on Willis’s socks.
In an interview with detectives about the July 26 attack, Willis at first said that he was only “nudging” the victim. Police say that according to Willis, he was trying to wake the victim up because he was concerned about them.
Later in the interview, Willis admitted to attacking both victims. Willis said that he was frustrated that he had been homeless and unemployed for around the past 6 months. According to police, Willis also said that the people in the area were “mean and rude” to him.
Police say that Willis told detectives that he was the only person involved in these attacks.
Willis is currently in custody of the Marion County Jail.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana is under a heat advisory with temperatures in the 90s throughout the week.
Many cooling centers will open throughout the state for those that need to find relief from the heat. Hoosiers looking to find cooling centers in their area can contact Indiana 211. To learn more, call 211 or (866) 211-9966.
Avaliable cooling centers can also be found by clicking here.
Marion County
For those living in Indianapolis, Indy Parks has several cooling centers across the city.
Those Cooling Centers are:
- Broad Ripple Park Family Center
- Brookside Park Family Center
- Christian Park Family Center
- Frederick Douglass Park Family Center
- Garfield Park Burrello Family Center
- Krannert Park Family Center
- Grassy Creek Environmental Education Center
- Pride Park Family Center
- Rhodius Park Family Center
- Riverside Park Family Center
- Stanley Strader Park Family Center
- Washington Park Family Center
- Windsor Park Family Center
- Watkins Park Family Center
- Thatcher Park Family Center
For addresses and hours of operations of these cooling centers, click here.
Beech Grove will also have two cooling Centers for residents starting Monday, June 29. Those hours and locations are:
- Beech Grove Senior Center, 602 Main St
- 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday
- Hornet Park Community Center, 5245 Hornet Ave
- 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday
Other Central Indiana Cooling Centers
For addresses and hour of operations of cooling centers below, click here.
Marion
- St. Martin Community Center
- Grant County Family YMCA
- Grant County Rescue Mission
Kokomo
- The Kokomo Rescue Mission
- The Excel Center in Kokomo
Peru
- Community Resource Center
- Miami County Courthouse
- Miami County Health Department
- Miami County YMCA
- Peru City Hall
- Peru Public Library
- Peru Schools Administration Building
INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — The National Weather Service out of Indianapolis has issued a Heat Advisory for all of Central Indiana and a High Heat Warning for parts of northern Indiana. The Advisory and Warning will go into effect at 12 PM on Monday and will run through 8 PM Thursday.
WRTV
A Heat Advisory means that temperatures in the 90s with dew points in the 70s, will lead to Heat Index values reaching 106. Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses.
Stay cool:
Drink plenty of fluids, check up on relatives and neighbors, and stay in an air-conditioned room when possible. If outside for extended periods of time, make sure to take frequent breaks in the shade as much as you can.
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