Indiana’s Kacey McKenna Finds Happiness and Positivity Helping Fuel Success To Make ‘A’ Final

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

100 BACKSTROKE — FINAL

• NCAA Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• Meet Record: 48.26, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2023
• American Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• US Open Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• Pool Record: 49.34, Katharine Berkoff (NC State) — 2024
• 2023 Champion: 48.26, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia)

Top 8:

1. Katharine Berkoff (NC State) — 48.55 *Pool Record*
2. Isabelle Stadden (California) — 50.47
3. Kennedy Noble (NC State) — 50.54
4. Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin) — 50.55
5. Josephine Fuller (Tennessee) — 50.56
6. Kacey McKenna (Indiana) — 50.65
7. Celia Pulido (SIU) — 50.73
8. Miranda Grana (Texas A&M) — 51.65

Indiana junior Kacey McKenna started her career with the Hoosiers strong qualifying for NCAAs as a freshman finishing 34th in prelims of the 100 back in a 52.57. As a sophomore, McKenna had a slightly different season as she did not make NCAAs swimming a season best of a 52.82 at midseason before swimming a 53.42 at 2023 Big Tens.

Sometimes, it takes a step back to go three steps forward (not one step forward and three steps back). This season, McKenna won her first Big Ten title swimming to a 50.49 in the 100 backstroke. At NCAAs, McKenna swam even faster in prelims with a 50.23 to be the #2 seed heading into finals only behind Katharine Berkoff. McKenna swam a 50.65 in finals to finish 6th.

Positivity has been a key part of both McKenna’s growth and success. She also mentioned that making changes and figuring out what did not work last season has also been key to her success.

“I think coming into this year after last year with a new mindset, just being a lot more positive and setting new goals has been really helpful and sort of realizing what wasn’t working for me last year and then making a really, really big emphasis on fixing those problems before even trying to do anything new in training or in swimming,” McKenna said.

With positivity also comes some confidence and happiness. “I had really low confidence last year, and I was not the happiest swimmer outside of the water.”  There is the saying, ‘a happy swimmer makes a fast swimmer’ and McKenna explained that herself saying, “It’s really hard to be a happy swimmer and a fast swimmer when you’re not happy and well outside of swimming.” 

McKenna recognized that things outside of the pool can affect things inside of the pool so she worked for a change.

“I was having a hard time with feeling like there are things that swimming was keeping me from doing, like spending time with friends or getting to see my family. I tried to fix those problems before moving on to fixing the swimming problems,” McKenna said. 

As McKenna was consistently faster this season, swimming a best time at midseason, another at a dual meet in January, and finally at Big Tens before NCAAs, she tried to make sure she did not put pressure on herself.

“I know that I don’t do well when I feel like the world is on my shoulders. My team has been so, so, so supportive and has not put pressure on me. They’ve been the ones to really take it off of me and make me have fun on the pool deck. [The team helps] keep me loose and excited and happy to swim and not thinking too hard about times or places. I know the second I start thinking about [times or places], I’m not going to do what I do best.”