Union native, Denigan, aiming to swim for Team USA in 2021 Olympics
UNION, Ky. (BVM) — When Mariah Denigan was 15, she made the USA Swimming national team at the U.S. Nationals in Irvine, Calif. Since then, Denigan has competed in competitions all over the world with Team USA including Fiji, Israel, Qatar and Peru. Now as a senior in high school, Denigan has big goals for 2021 – not only will she continue her swimming and academic career at Indiana University for the Hoosiers, but she will aim for her dream to be in the 2021 Olympics.
Denigan began swimming at age 7 and fell in love with the sport and the competitive atmosphere that comes with it. She loves how swimming is about racing the clock, trying to improve your time and racing against your teammates to make each other better. She knew that she had a huge opportunity around 9 years old when her coaches told her that she was ranked in the top 10 for an event amongst her age group in the nation.
“This lit a fire in me and really opened my eyes to all of the possibilities in the sport and a whole new world of swimming outside the state of Kentucky,” Denigan said. “I knew then that I wanted to be No. 1 in the nation in an event.”
When she found out she made the USA national team, Denigan was in Irvine and just finished swimming the best race of her life – the 800 freestyle. She did not know right away that she made the national team because the fastest eight swimmers still needed to swim their heat later that night. To make the team, a swimmer has to place in the top six in any Olympic event. She went to finals later that night to watch Katie Ledecky and all of the fastest swimmers in the U.S. in their heat. She looked up at the scoreboard at the end of that race and her time beat the person who got sixth in the heat making a dream become reality as she was on the USA national team for the 800 freestyle.
Denigan has competed in the 2018 World Junior Open Water Championships, the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Games and the 2019 Pan American Games. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began and the 2020 Olympics were postponed, Denigan had four Olympic trial cuts in the 400 freestyle, the 800 freestyle, the 1500 freestyle and the 400 Individual Medley. In swimming, you must meet time standards to even attend trials and only about the top 1% of swimmers even get to trial cuts – Denigan had four.
With her level of success, Olympic dreams, the uncertainty of the pandemic, how does she keep herself focused? She looks at these times the same way she approaches a race — keep calm, take deep breaths, and focus on her race plan. She will concentrate on how to execute the race ahead and not worry about what is around her. She prays before her race asking God to keep her safe and guide her – this routine will continue to guide her as she prepares for her journey ahead.
In a normal training schedule during the school year, Denigan has nine practices a week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the day starts early as her alarm goes off at 4:40 a.m. and practice is from 5-7 a.m. In the afternoon, Monday-Friday she practices from 3-5 p.m. sand has three lifting workouts a week in the evenings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5-6. On Saturdays, she has a morning practice from 7-9. Denigan balances online school, swimming and hangs out with friends when she can on the weekends.
Denigan has an amazing focus and vision for such a young athlete. With all of her success, she remains humble. She encourages other young swimmers to have fun – happy swimmers swim fast. Even at a young age, Denigan understands what the sport of swimming has given her and what it means to her.
“Being an athlete makes me a better person because being an athlete teaches you so many life skills” Denigan said. “Because of swimming I not only have a good work ethic inside the pool, but my work ethic carries over into my school day and my everyday tasks. Being an athlete also teaches you how to deal with the road bumps. Just like life, in swimming, I have had bad races with terrible practices but the ability to bounce back from those setbacks is something that makes you a better person.”
With the Olympics trials still in her sights, Denigan will look to continue improving her chances next summer. With plenty of U.S. national team experience, Denigan should feel confident heading into trials.
