Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Kaersten Meitz is Ready to Prove 2019 was Just the Beginning
Kaersten Meitz never envisioned swimming competitively beyond the fall of 2017.
She was nearing the conclusion of her collegiate swim experience at Purdue University, and she figured that would be the end of her career.
Then, she made a big jump in long course at 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships – finishing 4th in the 400-meter freestyle, 6th in the 800 free and 12th in the 200 free against a loaded field – and made that summer’s World University Games team.
“It opened my eyes to the possibilities and potential I have in swimming,” she said. “There was always a little voice in my head telling me to continue to swim. I was still improving, and I loved the sport so much; the idea of retiring at the end of my NCAA career crushed me.
“I didn’t want to look back years later and regret not giving 2020 a legitimate shot. After talking with my family, friends and coaches, it becatme clear what it was I really wanted to do, despite going against the typical career path for someone in a business-related major. Here we are in 2021, and I can confidently say I made the right decision.”
But Meitz’s swimming journey over the past couple of years – 2020 in particular – hasn’t evolved without its share of trials and tribulations, rewards and regrets.
Like everyone else around the globe, she was impacted by the spring shutdown that closed pools and encouraged people to social distance and quarantine.
“I was at the Olympic Training Center for a National Team camp when we got sent home early due to the shutdown,” said Meitz, who works part time as the Head of Business Development and Marketing at Barash Law LLC while also working on her MBA while training. “It was quite a whirlwind because we found out we needed to leave within the next 18 or so hours.”
She was able to train at Purdue for another week before her team was shut down completely.
Before the Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming were postponed, she said she was pretty nervous about not having pool access, but once everything was pushed back, she was able to relax and just focus on getting better out of the water.
“I had an extensive daily dryland regimen that included running, spinning, lifting and different circuits,” she said. “I used this time to get better at some of my weaknesses in the water. For example, a lot of my dryland circuits included explosive exercises that could help my 200 and front-end speed once I got back in the pool.”
However, after about two weeks out of the water, Meitz said she couldn’t suppress the itch to swim so she and her roommates devised a plan where they could swim in her backyard.
“A person on Facebook marketplace actually donated an inflatable pool to us,” she said. “I used a stretch cord to tether myself to a tree and swam in this tiny little pool in a wetsuit for about three weeks. My coach would send me interval workouts every day. It was pretty brutal; the water was usually around 50-55 degrees and at times it was snowing.”
Meitz and her roommates swam in there for a little over an hour every day, and luckily, a few weeks later, a friend in the area opened up her inground pool.
She offered Meitz the opportunity to train there so she could continue to tether swim until pools started to reopen, in much nicer conditions where the water was about 80 degrees.
She said while it’s undeniably been a strange year as the world approaches the year anniversary, the hardest part for her was not being able to compete for most of it.
“Competing is the main reason I love the sport, so not having the opportunity to race consistently has been difficult,” said Meitz, who continues to train with Boilermaker Aquatics. “But if anything, this year has only increased my motivation because making an Olympic team seems to more of a possibility than ever before.
She added that she thinks if there’s one thing swimmers can take away from this COVID experience it’s that periodically dialing it back in training is beneficial.
“As swimmers, we push ourselves beyond our limits every day to the point of complete exhaustion,” she said. “Having some time out of the water last spring allowed athletes to have a fresh start; to let their bodies properly recover and take a mental break. I think this is why we are seeing a lot of fast swims now.”
“One silver lining I could take away from this experience was added time with my family back in Wisconsin. Because of the shutdown, I was able to go home and spend the most time I’ve spent with my family since the summer after my freshman year in college. I feel as if we became even closer as a family with all of that extra time and for that I am forever grateful.”
But now that competitions have resumed and Olympic Trials – her second – is just a few months away, Meitz said she is more excited than ever to see if her dedication and results over the past few years will translate to Trials.
When Trials and the Olympics were postponed last year, she said was never really disappointed because, while she was in a good spot training wise at the time of the lockdown, she felt she needed a little more time to hone in on some details in her races.
She’s taken this year as an opportunity to get better, and she said she sees herself in an even better spot now than she was last year at this time.
And she’s expecting a much different Trials experience this year than five years ago for a variety of reasons.
“Back in 2016, I was just happy to be there,” Meitz said. “I was soaking in the experience and wasn’t too concerned with how fast I swam. I just wanted to have fun with my teammates and witness some of the fastest swims in the world.
“At the time, I didn’t plan on continuing my swimming career post-grad, so I am really excited to head back to Omaha and have a chance to experience those same thrilling moments. This time around it will surely be a very different feel. Now that I am vying for a spot on the team, the stakes are higher.”
Speaking of competitions, for the first time in more than a year Meitz is scheduled to compete at the TYR Pro Swim Series in San Antonio March 3-6.
Suffice it to say, after winning two gold medals (400 freestyle and 800 free relay) at 2019 World University Games, she was riding a tremendous high going into last year’s Olympic year.
She’s definitely looking forward to seeing what she can do in Omaha in a few months.
“I was supposed to follow up WUGS with Nationals at Stanford that summer,” said Meitz, who plans to compete at the rest of the TYR meets leading up to Trials. “Unfortunately, on the day of my first race of the meet, I went into surgery for appendicitis. That experience gave me a fire like none before because I felt as if I was robbed of my chance to swim some of the events I didn’t get to compete in in Italy.
“That was kind of a similar feeling I had when everything got shut down last March. I was in a good spot training-wise and was ready to make a splash at Trials. However, this extra year has been a blessing in disguise because I feel as if I’ve made another jump in training, and I’m better set up for success at Trials this year than I would have been last year. If this crazy year has taught me anything, it is that it is so important to take advantage of every opportunity to race.”
She was nearing the conclusion of her collegiate swim experience at Purdue University, and she figured that would be the end of her career.
Then, she made a big jump in long course at 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships – finishing 4th in the 400-meter freestyle, 6th in the 800 free and 12th in the 200 free against a loaded field – and made that summer’s World University Games team.
“It opened my eyes to the possibilities and potential I have in swimming,” she said. “There was always a little voice in my head telling me to continue to swim. I was still improving, and I loved the sport so much; the idea of retiring at the end of my NCAA career crushed me.
“I didn’t want to look back years later and regret not giving 2020 a legitimate shot. After talking with my family, friends and coaches, it becatme clear what it was I really wanted to do, despite going against the typical career path for someone in a business-related major. Here we are in 2021, and I can confidently say I made the right decision.”
But Meitz’s swimming journey over the past couple of years – 2020 in particular – hasn’t evolved without its share of trials and tribulations, rewards and regrets.
Like everyone else around the globe, she was impacted by the spring shutdown that closed pools and encouraged people to social distance and quarantine.
“I was at the Olympic Training Center for a National Team camp when we got sent home early due to the shutdown,” said Meitz, who works part time as the Head of Business Development and Marketing at Barash Law LLC while also working on her MBA while training. “It was quite a whirlwind because we found out we needed to leave within the next 18 or so hours.”
She was able to train at Purdue for another week before her team was shut down completely.
Before the Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming were postponed, she said she was pretty nervous about not having pool access, but once everything was pushed back, she was able to relax and just focus on getting better out of the water.
“I had an extensive daily dryland regimen that included running, spinning, lifting and different circuits,” she said. “I used this time to get better at some of my weaknesses in the water. For example, a lot of my dryland circuits included explosive exercises that could help my 200 and front-end speed once I got back in the pool.”
However, after about two weeks out of the water, Meitz said she couldn’t suppress the itch to swim so she and her roommates devised a plan where they could swim in her backyard.
“A person on Facebook marketplace actually donated an inflatable pool to us,” she said. “I used a stretch cord to tether myself to a tree and swam in this tiny little pool in a wetsuit for about three weeks. My coach would send me interval workouts every day. It was pretty brutal; the water was usually around 50-55 degrees and at times it was snowing.”
Meitz and her roommates swam in there for a little over an hour every day, and luckily, a few weeks later, a friend in the area opened up her inground pool.
She offered Meitz the opportunity to train there so she could continue to tether swim until pools started to reopen, in much nicer conditions where the water was about 80 degrees.
She said while it’s undeniably been a strange year as the world approaches the year anniversary, the hardest part for her was not being able to compete for most of it.
“Competing is the main reason I love the sport, so not having the opportunity to race consistently has been difficult,” said Meitz, who continues to train with Boilermaker Aquatics. “But if anything, this year has only increased my motivation because making an Olympic team seems to more of a possibility than ever before.
She added that she thinks if there’s one thing swimmers can take away from this COVID experience it’s that periodically dialing it back in training is beneficial.
“As swimmers, we push ourselves beyond our limits every day to the point of complete exhaustion,” she said. “Having some time out of the water last spring allowed athletes to have a fresh start; to let their bodies properly recover and take a mental break. I think this is why we are seeing a lot of fast swims now.”
“One silver lining I could take away from this experience was added time with my family back in Wisconsin. Because of the shutdown, I was able to go home and spend the most time I’ve spent with my family since the summer after my freshman year in college. I feel as if we became even closer as a family with all of that extra time and for that I am forever grateful.”
But now that competitions have resumed and Olympic Trials – her second – is just a few months away, Meitz said she is more excited than ever to see if her dedication and results over the past few years will translate to Trials.
When Trials and the Olympics were postponed last year, she said was never really disappointed because, while she was in a good spot training wise at the time of the lockdown, she felt she needed a little more time to hone in on some details in her races.
She’s taken this year as an opportunity to get better, and she said she sees herself in an even better spot now than she was last year at this time.
And she’s expecting a much different Trials experience this year than five years ago for a variety of reasons.
“Back in 2016, I was just happy to be there,” Meitz said. “I was soaking in the experience and wasn’t too concerned with how fast I swam. I just wanted to have fun with my teammates and witness some of the fastest swims in the world.
“At the time, I didn’t plan on continuing my swimming career post-grad, so I am really excited to head back to Omaha and have a chance to experience those same thrilling moments. This time around it will surely be a very different feel. Now that I am vying for a spot on the team, the stakes are higher.”
Speaking of competitions, for the first time in more than a year Meitz is scheduled to compete at the TYR Pro Swim Series in San Antonio March 3-6.
Suffice it to say, after winning two gold medals (400 freestyle and 800 free relay) at 2019 World University Games, she was riding a tremendous high going into last year’s Olympic year.
She’s definitely looking forward to seeing what she can do in Omaha in a few months.
“I was supposed to follow up WUGS with Nationals at Stanford that summer,” said Meitz, who plans to compete at the rest of the TYR meets leading up to Trials. “Unfortunately, on the day of my first race of the meet, I went into surgery for appendicitis. That experience gave me a fire like none before because I felt as if I was robbed of my chance to swim some of the events I didn’t get to compete in in Italy.
“That was kind of a similar feeling I had when everything got shut down last March. I was in a good spot training-wise and was ready to make a splash at Trials. However, this extra year has been a blessing in disguise because I feel as if I’ve made another jump in training, and I’m better set up for success at Trials this year than I would have been last year. If this crazy year has taught me anything, it is that it is so important to take advantage of every opportunity to race.”