Simone Manuel, America’s fastest swimmer, has the slowest pets

IRVINE, Calif. — Simone Manuel can cover the length of an Olympic swimming pool in 23.97 seconds, faster than any American woman in history.

Her pets could do it in about 4,000 seconds. If the pool was empty.

Manuel, the Olympic and world champion in the 100m freestyle, came to the U.S. Championships this week following a few life changes.

She recently completed her NCAA career at Stanford, earning the Honda Cup as the top female college athlete in the country. Manuel announced Tuesday that she signed with swimwear sponsor Tyr, kicking off her professional career.

And she recently celebrated her two-month anniversary with Shaka and Zulu.

“I didn’t pick the names,” Manuel said. “My boyfriend…