Isabelle Stadden competed at her first NCAA Championships with no crowd and no expectations.
With no dual meets during the regular season, there was little opportunity to race prior to the Pac-12 Championships.
The then-freshman at Cal performed well, winning the Pac-12 title in the 200 backstroke and earning All-American honors in multiple events, kicking off a strong and busy year that took her to pools around the world. Stadden then competed at the Olympic Trials, finishing in the top five in both backstroke events, then qualified for the Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi, where she reached the medal podium.
Now, Stadden is back with Cal, ready to see what a full season of training and racing can bring on college’s biggest stage, starting with this week’s Pac-12 Championships.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“This whole year has been different. This is really my first competitive collegiate year since we didn’t have any dual meets last year,” Isabelle Stadden told Swimming World. “We didn’t have many racing opportunities last year.
Stadden was third in the 200 backstroke at last year’s NCAA championships (1:49.66), fifth in the 100 backstroke (50.87) and 20th in the 200 IM (1:57.25).
“NCAAs was a great experience,” Stadden said. “I felt pretty decent in the water, which was a bit of a shock. I sometimes have a hard time doing a double taper like that back-to-back, and I wasn’t sure to expect because I had a pretty good Pac-12s. I am really glad I got that experience at NCAAs. I was grateful for that experience and racing the elite backstrokers.”
Then it was a quick turnaround to focus on long-course training before heading to Omaha for the Olympic Trials.
“I knew I was in the mix for the months leading up to it. Waiting an extra year for trials, some people would have never made it had it been a year earlier (and some people would have had a better shot if it had not been postponed) but I stayed pretty consistent. That was a little hard to cope with. It was a high-stress meet. I have never been at a meet like that with such high stress levels,” Isabelle Stadden said. “Trials was a bigger learning experience than anything. Going from the 100 back to the 200 back, I can see the stress I put on myself in my best event.”
It was an eye-opening realization, especially looking back on it, that allowed Stadden to refocus her swimming goals.
“I realized that I needed to be having fun. For me to swim fast, I need to have fun. That has always been me,” she said. “Most of the time when I am having fun, it is because I know I already put the work in. But the second I start thinking, that starts to stress me out. We have worked a lot on self talk at Cal and that has helped a lot. I am grateful to have gone to trials. Back tin 2016, I didn’t even realize how big swimming was and how big trials is. To be in the mix was an honor.”
Just a few months later, it was a trip around the world that gave Stadden her next opportunity, swimming at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi, earning the bronze medal in the 200 backstroke
“It was such an amazing experience. I don’t think I would have thought to go to Abu Dhabi if it wasn’t for a swim meet, but I am really thankful I got to go,” Isabelle Stadden said. “It gave me the extra motivation to work toward something at the end of the year and work toward NCAAs. “I always appreciate being able to represent Team USA. These have all been big learning steps that I was able to experience.”
It has been a challenge to go from NCAAs (short-course yards ) to trials (long-course meters) to Short Course Worlds (short-course meters) and put races together. It has Stadden focusing on her technique and what she can learn in all three formats.
“I have been working on breaststroke for my IM, and also taking the opportunities to work on transitions. I tend to slow down going into turns in my backstroke. Those are things I would like to see play out better at NCAAs,” Isabelle Stadden said. “I am most excited to race, using that as the extra push I need in the middle of the race. I am just really excited to race.”
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Will she have to compete with transgenders with male bodies?