During the winter season, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil’s outstanding performance. This week, the spotlight is on Duke swimmer Kaelyn Gridley:
During last year’s ACC Championship, Kaelyn Gridley captured a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. After finishing just shy of gold, her hunger for first place was only stronger as stepped onto the starting block this past weekend in Greensboro, N.C.
On an exhilarating fourth day of competition for Duke swimming and diving, every athlete was pushed to their limits. The women’s 100-yard breaststroke turned out to be one of the fiercest events this year, yet Gridley thrived in the intensity and charged ahead to take gold.
Although the race marked her first individual ACC title, the Wilmette, Ill., native has always been a standout for Duke swimming and diving. In her rookie season, Gridley represented Duke on a national stage, securing a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.
The now-ACC Champion also wasted no time etching her name into Duke’s record books during her debut campaign, touching in at an explosive 59.12 in the 100 breaststroke against North Carolina. To no one’s surprise, she has since dominated in the pool in this event, shattering her own times each year. For Gridley, record-breaking has become routine.
The accolades don’t stop there for the standout swimmer, though. Kickstarting a chain of triumphs for Duke during the ACC Championship meet in her sophomore year, she joined Ali Pfaff, Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall as they tackled the 200-yard medley relay. Clocking in at a blistering 1:35.85, the existing school record didn’t stand a chance. Gridley also swam on the relay team that beat that record this winter with a 1:35.41.
Beyond collegiate competition, though, Gridley is still a threat in the pool. Racing alongside seasoned Olympic veterans in the 2024 Olympic Trials, Gridley did more than hold her own. Clinching two fifth-place finishes in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke, there’s no denying her drive and exceptional talent.
Gridley boasts lightning times this season for both the 100-yard and 200-yard races, having clocked a respective season-best 58.14 against North Carolina and a 2:05.71 at the Wolfpack Invitational. The junior will now head to Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash., to race at the NCAA Championships, having earned her spot with impressive cuts. Expect to see no signs of slowing down, as Gridley will surely be a force to be reckoned with as she faces tougher competition in the week ahead.
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