Friday, July 9, 2021
Work Ethic and Dedication Guide Paige Madden to Olympic Team
During the first few weeks of her freshman season at the University of Virginia, Paige Madden had a conversation with Cavaliers coach Todd DeSorbo that changed her outlook on swimming.
"You train really hard," DeSorbo told her following a workout in 2017, his first year with the Cavaliers. "You have a chance to make the Olympic team."
Madden was stunned. She couldn’t believe the coach she had just begun swimming for had so much confidence in her. She was still making the adjustment to college swimming, not thinking about her chances of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Still, Madden proved her coach right at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, finishing second in the 400 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle to qualify for the 4x200 freestyle relay.
Her earning a spot on Team USA comes—as it does for every Olympian—after years of building strength, displaying discipline and focus, and working hard. DeSorbo thought those things, in conjunction with her excellent technique, would allow her to reach the pinnacle of her sport.
“If I really feel that way about somebody, I’ll let them know," said DeSorbo, one of Team USA’s assistant women’s coaches. “We just want them to know we have confidence in their ability. It was pretty clear that she was going to do some special things down the line.”
Madden reaching the Olympics seemed uncertain just a few weeks ago.
About a month after her tremendous performance in March at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving National Championships, at which she won the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle and led the Cavaliers to a national title, Madden was stricken with COVID-19.
“When it first happened, I was just devastated,” Madden said. “I immediately told myself, ‘I’m done. My season’s over. Everything’s out the window. No way I’m making the Olympic team. I don’t even know if I’ll go to Olympic Trials, blah, blah, blah.’ That was a bit dramatic.”
During her forced break from training, Madden reset her self-talk. She reminded herself of how she tore the meniscus in her knee eight weeks before the World University Games in 2019 but still competed. That gave her confidence that she could make a quick turnaround again.
Her body, however, didn’t cooperate fully.
When Madden resumed training, she would need 37 strokes to cover the same distance she used to do in 29. She was swimming fast times in workouts, but her heart rate would be much higher than normal. Already afflicted with asthma, Madden dealt with lingering chest pain at Trials.
She overcame the adversity, going a 4:04.86 in the 400 freestyle, just three seconds behind Katie Ledecky, and a 1:56.80 in the 200 freestyle, less than three-tenths of a second behind Ledecky, the first-place finisher, and one-hundredth of a second behind runner-up Allison Schmidt.
“If anybody could get COVID[-19] two months ago and still be very successful after that, it was going to be Paige,” DeSorbo said. “I would have been surprised if Paige hadn’t made the U.S. Olympic Team. She’s just the type of athlete that has put in so much hard work over the last year and, really, the last four years that that was really going to carry her through.”
This isn’t just a case of DeSorbo talking positively about his athlete. Madden’s teammates recognize her work ethic is one of the best on the team, one that leaves them in awe.
Cavaliers freshman Alex Walsh qualified for the Olympics in the 200 IM but spent the past year trying — and failing — to keep up with Madden in workouts.
“She’s literally my hero,” Walsh said. “[Cavaliers assistant coach Blaire Bachman] would be like, ‘Look up to Paige and try to be like her, try to hold the same times as her.’ I wasn’t very good at doing that because she’s incredible at threshold work. She’s been someone who I’ve really strived to be like this first year. She’s been such a great inspiration for me.”
That work ethic, paired with one fateful conversation, helped Madden become an Olympian.
“[The conversation with DeSorbo] was definitely a really special moment for me,” Madden said. “When he said it, he said it with such intensity that it really struck me. I also remember him saying, ‘I think you can make it — in the 200 freestyle.’ He never said anything about the 400, so I might have to give him a hard time about that for not seeing that potential in me.”
Madden laughed at her joke for a moment before continuing: “But I also hadn’t seen that potential in myself.”
"You train really hard," DeSorbo told her following a workout in 2017, his first year with the Cavaliers. "You have a chance to make the Olympic team."
Madden was stunned. She couldn’t believe the coach she had just begun swimming for had so much confidence in her. She was still making the adjustment to college swimming, not thinking about her chances of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Still, Madden proved her coach right at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, finishing second in the 400 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle to qualify for the 4x200 freestyle relay.
Her earning a spot on Team USA comes—as it does for every Olympian—after years of building strength, displaying discipline and focus, and working hard. DeSorbo thought those things, in conjunction with her excellent technique, would allow her to reach the pinnacle of her sport.
“If I really feel that way about somebody, I’ll let them know," said DeSorbo, one of Team USA’s assistant women’s coaches. “We just want them to know we have confidence in their ability. It was pretty clear that she was going to do some special things down the line.”
Madden reaching the Olympics seemed uncertain just a few weeks ago.
About a month after her tremendous performance in March at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving National Championships, at which she won the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle and led the Cavaliers to a national title, Madden was stricken with COVID-19.
“When it first happened, I was just devastated,” Madden said. “I immediately told myself, ‘I’m done. My season’s over. Everything’s out the window. No way I’m making the Olympic team. I don’t even know if I’ll go to Olympic Trials, blah, blah, blah.’ That was a bit dramatic.”
During her forced break from training, Madden reset her self-talk. She reminded herself of how she tore the meniscus in her knee eight weeks before the World University Games in 2019 but still competed. That gave her confidence that she could make a quick turnaround again.
Her body, however, didn’t cooperate fully.
When Madden resumed training, she would need 37 strokes to cover the same distance she used to do in 29. She was swimming fast times in workouts, but her heart rate would be much higher than normal. Already afflicted with asthma, Madden dealt with lingering chest pain at Trials.
She overcame the adversity, going a 4:04.86 in the 400 freestyle, just three seconds behind Katie Ledecky, and a 1:56.80 in the 200 freestyle, less than three-tenths of a second behind Ledecky, the first-place finisher, and one-hundredth of a second behind runner-up Allison Schmidt.
“If anybody could get COVID[-19] two months ago and still be very successful after that, it was going to be Paige,” DeSorbo said. “I would have been surprised if Paige hadn’t made the U.S. Olympic Team. She’s just the type of athlete that has put in so much hard work over the last year and, really, the last four years that that was really going to carry her through.”
This isn’t just a case of DeSorbo talking positively about his athlete. Madden’s teammates recognize her work ethic is one of the best on the team, one that leaves them in awe.
Cavaliers freshman Alex Walsh qualified for the Olympics in the 200 IM but spent the past year trying — and failing — to keep up with Madden in workouts.
“She’s literally my hero,” Walsh said. “[Cavaliers assistant coach Blaire Bachman] would be like, ‘Look up to Paige and try to be like her, try to hold the same times as her.’ I wasn’t very good at doing that because she’s incredible at threshold work. She’s been someone who I’ve really strived to be like this first year. She’s been such a great inspiration for me.”
That work ethic, paired with one fateful conversation, helped Madden become an Olympian.
“[The conversation with DeSorbo] was definitely a really special moment for me,” Madden said. “When he said it, he said it with such intensity that it really struck me. I also remember him saying, ‘I think you can make it — in the 200 freestyle.’ He never said anything about the 400, so I might have to give him a hard time about that for not seeing that potential in me.”
Madden laughed at her joke for a moment before continuing: “But I also hadn’t seen that potential in myself.”