Courtesy of Patrick Mader.
Patrick is a writer for mnathletes.com, a website dedicated to featuring Minnesota athletes in a wide range of sports. See the website here.
“I am part of a swim family,” says Jenny Shaughnessy of the sport and her close-knit family. “My parents both swam at St. Olaf College and when my older brother, Michael, began swimming, I’d tag along to swim meets. I naturally followed that path.” Jenny also credits her parents, William, an orthopedic surgeon, and mother, Heidi, a nurse, along with her brother for being her number one support system—cheering for her, giving her rides to practices, and volunteering as timers at meets. With parents having those professions, it is no surprise that Jenny grew up in Minnesota’s renown medical city of Rochester.
Born in 1987, Jenny began competing at seven years old as a member of the Rochester Swim Club until the age of 13, then switching to Med City Aquatics for five more years. Although she attended Rochester Lourdes High School, Jenny competed for Rochester John Marshall since Lourdes did not have a pool. She is the winner of five state high school titles beginning with the 200-yard Individual Medley (IM; comprised of four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) as a sophomore in 2002. “I was nervous and excited,” says Jenny of her first state experience. “That was a pivotal meet. I was not expecting to win a title and it boosted my confidence. There were college recruiters there and it was a high-pressure environment. It was fun to be at the ‘U’ with lots of fans.” Jenny repeated as champion in that event and added the 100-yard freestyle crown as a junior. She capped off her high school career claiming those two titles again as a senior in 2004 with times of 2:02.95 in the 200-yard IM and 50.60 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle races. “I was having a lot of fun with a great group of friends,” Jenny says of her club and high school swimming experiences.
“I was not sure if I wanted to swim Division I or Division III,” says Jenny of making a college choice. Although Jenny made official visits only to Big Ten Conference schools Northwestern and the University of Minnesota (U of M), she also visited Notre Dame and several Division III schools, ultimately deciding to remain in state. “I wanted to explore how competitive I could be. The U of M seemed like the best fit. I was in coach Kelly Kremer’s first women’s team recruiting class. He came across so professional and knowledgeable and wanted us to succeed as people. He was passionate about the sport and cared about us.”
It did prove to be a good fit. Jenny became a 12-time All-American, had 8 individual and relay Big Ten titles, and the female U of M recipient of the prestigious 2009 Big Ten Medal of Honor (Matt Nohelty, a Gopher baseball player, was the male athlete recipient).
It was a big step up for the 5’ 7” Rochester athlete to make the adjustment to the demanding hours, two-a-day practices, and intensity of the training. Despite the academic and athletic rigor at a large university, Jenny was part of the 800-yard freestyle relay 2006 Big Ten Championship quartet along with Kate Hardt, Christine Jennings, and Yuen Kobayashi and 9th in the NCAA Championships her first year. As a sophomore, the 800-yard freestyle relay team repeated their feat in the Big Ten and then placed in the NCAA Championships with a time of 7:07.92. Jenny added an individual All-American award by finishing 11th in the 200-yard IM in 1:58.96.
A collegiate athletic highlight for Jenny was when the Gopher women’s swim team won the Big Ten title in 2008. “The entire travel squad was with us at the Big Ten Conference Championships at the Ohio State U pool. It was so exciting it all came together for us and fun to see all the hard work come to fruition.” Jenny contributed significantly: she won the 200-yard IM and was again on the winning 800-yard freestyle relay with Kobayashi, Jennings, and Meredith McCarthy. At nationals, Jenny was 12th in the 200-yard IM and on two All-American freestyle relay teams as the Gophers took 13th for the third consecutive year.
That year, Jenny also qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in a couple of events but opted to swim only the 200-meter freestyle due to a scheduling conflict. She placed 61st out of 103 entrants. Jenny’s success only grew in the 2008-09 season, her final year of eligibility. She captured the 200- and 400-yard IM crowns in the Big Ten Conference meet and was a member of two winning relay teams. On the national stage, Jenny achieved four more All-American rankings in the same events with a 5th place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with McCarthy, Kobayashi, and Stacy Busack (Fergus Falls). She attributes her success to consistency, remaining calm under pressure, and maintaining a love of swimming.
Nearing a degree in kinesiology, Jenny completed her coursework while serving as a volunteer swim coach at the U of M. “It was great fun to see the sport from a different perspective,” she says of the 2009-10 season. “The coach-athlete relationship Kelly Kremer builds is great. He pushed us to our best potential.”
Attending graduate school for physical therapy at Duke University, Jenny met Rob Ferris, the founder and coach of the school’s triathlon club. They later married and now have three young sons: Lucas, Cody, and Max. She is presently a busy stay-at-home mom in Boulder, Colorado after being a physical therapist for eight years. Rob is a business consultant.
“Swimming shaped me into the person I am today,” says Jenny of the sport’s influence in her life. “It opened a lot of doors for me. My parents and my brother Mike have been such a wonderful support in swimming. I saw the hard work Mike put in every day. He was a tremendous role model and a great big brother. Swimming was a big part of our lives.”
Loved watching her swim. Such a technician.