For most people, a 12-hour span in the day looks like this – they wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, eat dinner and then prepare for bed.
For Augustana University’s Bryn Greenwaldt, that’s enough time to become a Division 2 First-Team All-American in two completely different sports.
“I kind of just rolled around all night, didn’t do much sleeping, and wrote in my notes about how scared I was,” Greenwaldt said.
On Saturday, March 15, Bryn Greenwaldt woke up at 7:15 am. She made her way to breakfast.
She ate grapes, strawberries, six strips of bacon and some cinnamon toast crunch. She washed it down with apple juice before heading to the van taking her to the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
As she headed to the van — she thought “Today’s the day.”
She gets ready to warmup at 8:45 a.m. Greenwaldt said as she stared at the pool getting ready to warmup for the first event of the day, thoughts started to creep in.
“I literally was terrified. I was on the verge of tears. I was like ‘What if I just don’t do this? I could just not get on the blocks, really, really use my free will here.’ I was freaking out. Then I just sat there and was terrified,” Greenwaldt said.
She said, though there were initial fears, when time came down to it she felt prepared. Around 10:30 a.m., Greenwaldt swam the 100-yard freestyle and was seeded second heading into Finals.
First event down, two more to go. But the next wasn't even in the pool. It’s the high jump. Greenwaldt is also competing at the DII Track and Field Championships.
She grabs lunch and goes back to her hotel. But before heading to the Track and Field competition, she wanted to do something for herself.
“Okay so at track meets, everyone looks good. Everyone has makeup and they have glitter, and they have their hair done and they have hair clips, and they have hair extensions and everyone looks so good," Greenwaldt said. "I was like, I’m gonna look [bad], obviously I can’t do any of that because I’m gonna have to go put on a cap and goggles. I can’t have makeup and glitter on my face. But I wanted to fit in a little bit, so I did my hair. I straightened my hair and I was very excited about it."
Greenwaldt grabbed her bags, and the van took her to the track and field venue. The competition started at 4 p.m.
Greenwaldt cleared 5’5” on her first try…then 5’7”…then 5’8” this time on the second try…then 5’8.75”. That was a personal best and enough to secure her a First-Team All-America distinction. She ties for 8th, placing seven spots higher than her entry seed.
She said though her hope was to succeed and compete well, it was never her goal.
“I did a lot of focusing on not putting pressure on myself for the track and the Finals swim just because I knew it would make the experience so much less than it could be and I was just there to have fun and I was so excited with where I was at and what I was doing,” Greenwaldt said.
At 5:15 p.m. Greenwaldt finished, and her teammates and coaches urged her to hurry - Finals began at 5:30 p.m. Greenwaldt still needed to warm up to swim and get ready to race. She drove five miles back to the IU Natatorium and got into the pool immediately.
She entered the water to swim at 6:12, less than an hour after competing in the high jump. She said she could tell the workload was taking a toll on her body.
“I said right before I went up to do my 100, ‘This is going to be the second-most painful 100 of my life and the first one is going to be the relay one afterwards,'" Greenwaldt said. "And I was correct. Honestly everything’s going fine for the firs 50, and the second 50 I felt so awful. I was like, ‘Just finish the race please.’ I got out of the pool and I literally, my legs gave out under me and I fell to the ground multiple times."
Greenwaldt dropped from second to eighth place, but doing so secured her a First Team All-America distinction. She earned the distinction in two different sports in under an hour. She finished the night with another 100-freestyle on the relay.
She said taking it all in, the experience meant a lot.
“It’s really hard for me to be proud of myself, like I’m very easily impressed and proud of others and I don’t often feel that way towards myself. So it was one of those moments where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is everything to me,” Greenwaldt said.
March 15 was Greenwaldt’s last day of competition. On the previous days , she also became the only woman in Division 2 history to go under 22-seconds in a 50 freestyle and became Augustana University Swimming and Diving’s only National champion.
