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Calypso Sheridan found out a lot about herself during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She rekindled her love for the outdoors, participated in ninja warrior training and returned home to Australia to train and spend a lot of quality time with family.
But she missed being part of a team, the most appealing part of the sport for Sheridan.
So after graduating from Northwestern University, Sheridan used the extra NCAA year of eligibility granted during the pandemic to be a graduate transfer at USC, and has helped the Trojans become a top-10 team in the country. She is studying aerospace engineering after her undergrad degree was computer science.
“I didn’t go to Olympic Trials in Australia because I wasn’t loving the sport at that time. I love the team environment that it becomes at college,” Calypso Sheridan told Swimming World. “I just love that connection and the training environment. I had so many other interests like hiking and ninja warrior that I found a lot easier to do here.
“When COVID initially happened, I was at Northwestern. Once NCAAs was canceled, I went to San Francisco with a teammate and stayed there for three weeks. I then went back to my off-campus housing at Northwestern. I was there for two weeks and I was (isolated), then I went back to Australia, thinking I would be there a couple months,” Sheridan said. “I was staying with my sister and my mom and trained with my old club.”
Sheridan was there longer than a couple of months as the pandemic intensified. She opted not to go back to Northwestern live and finished her degree remotely.
“Northwestern’s coach asked me if I was coming back and I wasn’t too sure because of the numbers in America. There were heaps of COVID cases. At the time, there weren’t many cases in Queensland. Our premier did a good job of keeping the borders closed,” Calypso Sheridan said. “I also had experienced the Chicago winters and didn’t want to be locked down not being able to leave the apartment. I though that would be super depressing. So I stayed in Australia and was able to go out and hike and be outdoors, which is an important part of my life.”
It was something that the pandemic brought out of her.
“I hadn’t even realized how much I loved hiking and being in nature until COVID happened. When we were in San Francisco my teammate and I went hiking every day for two weeks. It was so amazing that when I went back to Australia, I was obsessed,” Calypso Sheridan said. “With classes being online, and recorded, I got to go out hiking and that helped a lot with my swimming. It was nice getting a bit of cross training and I think that is something a lot of coaches realized during the pandemic when we weren’t in the water as much. You can get a lot of your training done outside the pool.
“When I got back to Australia I did a bit of cross training, similar to American Ninja Warrior, so I got to do some ninja warrior competitions over there and I really enjoyed that. I love being in the gym I also love biking, so maybe in the future I will do triathlons. I want to be active. I love being an athlete and I don’t think I could relinquish that even when I move on from swimming.”
That outdoor love played a part in her move to USC.
“Southern California is really outdoorsy and I am able to get out and be active,” she said. “I knew Kipp and I actually used to train with Laticia Transom back in Australia. That was really awesome that we got to be teammates again.”
Sheridan returned to the U.S. after more than a year and a half.
“When I got back to Australia, we had a couple months off before we we returned to the pool. I worked out with my old teammate Minna Atherton. We swam at her rooftop pool and went on lots of hikes and did dryland,” Calypso Sheridan said. “I was swimming really well and then I just wasn’t enjoying it as much. I never came back for graduation and now am in all of these graduate classes, but I have really enjoyed the training here.”
And it has led to success, with Sheridan having some of the top times in the NCAA in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breaststroke.
“I am excited that we have an awesome relay group here and I get to train with a champion like Kaitlyn Dobler. I am excited for the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke, but I don’t have any time expectations going in, but I am really excited to see how things go,” Calypso Sheridan said. “I am excited to race on relays at the NCAA Championships, which I have never gotten to do. It is not for myself it is for the team and that is really exciting.”
It might not be the end of her career as Sheridan could join up with a new team in the International Swimming League (ISL), building off of her love of team sport.
“ISL, from what I hear is a lot like the college environment for swimming with the team,” Calypso Sheridan said. “I think that is really awesome for swimming.”
