Beata Nelson Has Been an Underappreciated Star Caught Up in Selection Net
Beata Nelson has made herself known on the U.S. National Team for the better part of the last eight years. An accomplished short-course swimmer, the Wisconsin Badger has an impressive pedigree in the all-time rankings of her signature events.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
100 Individual Medley: Eighth all-time (57.53)
2oo Individual Medley: 16th all-time (2:04.92)
100 Backstroke: 17th all-time (55.74)
200 Backstroke: 10th all-time (2:00.27)
At the height of the International Swim League, Nelson was a force for the Cali Condors. She ranked fourth in the 2021 ISL rankings with 396 overall points.
On the World Cup stage, Nelson won the overall women’s title in 2022, racking up more than $150,000 in prize money. Across the three stops, she swept the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley for two triple crowns. As a collegiate athlete at Wisconsin, Nelson won three NCAA titles in 2019, prevailing in both backstrokes and the 200 individual medley.
Short Course Selection
Despite her short course talent, Nelson has been an unfortunate casualty of USA Swimming’s short course selection procedures. Short Course World Championship teams for Team USA have traditionally been selected with the development of long-course teams in mind.
In 2021, Coleman Stewart broke the world record in the SCM 100 backstroke, a time he still holds today. Just a few months later, Kelsie Dahlia clipped the world record in the 100 butterfly. Despite their rankings among the top swimmers in history, neither athlete found their way onto the Abu Dhabi Worlds team that year. Beata Nelson experienced a similar fate just a year later.
After becoming the top women’s performer on the 2022 World Cup circuit, she was left off of the World Championships team for Melbourne. Her 100 backstroke time from that same year would have been fourth, while her 200 time would have netted her a silver medal. All four of Nelson’s top event times that she managed just weeks earlier would have placed her in the top eight at the World Champs.
USA Swimming’s selection criteria prioritizes long course swims in Olympic events. Swims in 50-meter races will fall to the fastest swimmer in their respective 100 distance. Following that caveat, the next athlete selected would be someone already on the team that has the fastest time in that 50 meter race in long course. The 100 individual medley sits in a different category, requiring an A standard time swum at a World Aquatics competition, such as the World Cup circuit.
Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS / ISL
2024 Olympic Trials
When asked about her plans in 2022, Nelson was candid about her desire to pursue her dreams in the coming years,
“I knew after Olympic Trials last summer (2021) that I was going to keep fighting and pursuing my dream,” she said. “I decided then to give it another three years to 2024 and see where things take me.”
In 2024, Nelson had her strongest Olympic Trials showing to date, making three finals and swimming personal bests. The 100 butterfly saw her finish in sixth place. Her time of 57.80 was just over two seconds off of what it took to make the team.
The 100 freestyle was arguably Nelson’s strongest swim of the meet despite being her lowest finals placing. She swam a personal best 53.92 in the semifinals before slipping to a 54.00 in finals. The 53.92 sat just .06 off of what tied for sixth place, which was shared by Erika Connolly and Catie DeLoof, who had to battle in a swim-off to make the team for the Paris Olympics. Ultimately, the showdown went Connolly’s way. On the penultimate day of the meet, Nelson finished fourth in the 200 individual medley, behind a strong swim of 2:10.38.
Moving Forward
While the Olympic Trials did not send Nelson to the French capital, she followed on the World Cup circuit with a superb showing, finishing ninth in the rankings. Her presence was still strongly felt as she made multiple finals across all three stops of the meet.
Just 26 years old, Nelson is not going anywhere anytime soon. An accomplished talent, she seems to improve with every passing year. While the USA Swimming short course selection procedures don’t work well for predominantly short course athletes, the Singapore World Champs sit on the horizon in 2025, and with a home Olympics to follow in Los Angeles in 2028.
Regardless of where Nelson’s career takes her from here, she has firmly established herself in the sport, particularly as a short-course standout.