North Carolina State University's Katherine Berkoff has faith and confidence heading into Olympic selection
Since the heartache at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha three years agoKatherine Berkoff Each of the past two years has marked internationally significant milestones. This week, she's eager to write the fifth and final chapter of her storied collegiate career at North Carolina State University…and with perspective and confidence forged from disappointment, she'll head to the next Olympic selection in June. I am ready to give my best at the meeting.
katherine berkoff I didn't watch the Tokyo Olympics. She didn't want anything more than a basic results check. She “didn't think about it if it could be avoided.” For most of 2021, Birkhoff worked through the heartbreak of the Olympic Trials as best he could.
Birkhoff rode the wave to Omaha. She won her first NCAA title in the 100-yard backstroke that spring and helped North Carolina State win two medley relay gold medals. She appeared to be on her way to establishing herself in American swimming as a versatile collegiate sprinter.
So when Birkhoff finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at the trials and only eighth in the 200-meter dash, there was no hiding her emotions.
“The 2021 Olympic Trials were very shocking for me,” Berkoff said. “I was heartbroken for a long time…. It probably took me six months to feel better. But I think it was probably the best learning experience I've ever had, because it was the first time I realized I was really Because it opened my eyes to what I need to do to achieve what I want and form a better way of thinking about myself and how I think about my race.”
In fact, Berkoff has focused on the positives since the heartbreak in Omaha. “I really believe in myself,” Berkoff said. “I've put in so much work. I'm pretty confident on the long course and I'm a ton more than I was three years ago.”
rise from the mountain
Photo by Peter H. Bick.
Birkhoff's rise to stardom to the point of hopelessness at the Olympic trials benefited more than anyone from the postponement of the 2020 Olympics. Birkhoff, a native of Missoula, Montana, has long been in the national spotlight. She's a big fish in a relatively small Big Sky pond, and she has the genes of being the daughter of an International Swimming Hall of Famer. david berkoffwon a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1988 Olympics and a bronze medal in 1992, as well as two gold medals in the relay. Catherine was an international prospect even before entering university, winning medals at the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships and the 2019 World University Games.
Her freshman year at Raleigh was promising, winning the ACC title in the 100 back before the NCAA was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But her breakout year, perhaps a “breakout year” given her father's backstroke innovations, came during her sophomore year. She won the 2021 NCAA title in the 100 back and claimed the ACC record. She set NCAA and US Open records, her 400 medley relay as part of her team, and achieved national championships in both her medley relays. She reached the A finals in the 200m back and 50m free.
Birkhoff now knows that even that accomplishment was overshadowed by long-distance course training and lack of race preparation that ultimately doomed her trials. She said: “She had run the long course 100 back once or twice before the trials and I thought she would be able to do it.'' However, the depth of the other world of American women's backstroke is unforgiving. And while Berkov's score of 58.82 in the final might have been enough to qualify for the Olympic final, it only placed her fourth among her compatriots, and she lost the second-place spot she held in the 50m wall. It wasn't enough to sustain it. Instead, regan smith and ryan white Smith heads to Tokyo as the world record holder for the back 200m after a grueling week in which he was denied the chance to compete in the Olympics in the same event.
This is the reality Berkoff has come to accept as an American backstroker. “The pressure is pretty insane at the Olympic Trials,” she said. “It can be a little tricky at times. I wish it wasn't so difficult, but it makes it all the more rewarding.”
Turn sadness into a silver world
This is not the point in Birkhoff's journey where everything suddenly starts to fall into place. Some people have lived through the scenario of absorbing disappointment in an Olympic quad only to gain complete dominance in the next quad. But it's not Birkhoff. And as Paris 2024 arrives, she hopes to use her practiced resilience as a difference-maker.
Photo credit: NCAA Media
Birkhoff started 2021 with a strong performance at the World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi. He won a bronze medal, two relay gold medals, and three relay silver medals in the 100 back out of a total of six medals. She became the NCAA 100m champion again in the spring of 2022, and she became the first woman to break the 49-second barrier with a U.S. Open record of 48.74. She went from strength to strength on long courses, beating the 50-back U.S. Open and U.S. Open marks in 27.12 seconds to qualify for the world championships. Although she finished fourth in her 100 meters at the trials meet, she called her trip to Budapest “one of the most special moments of my career for me.”
It became even more special when she came back as the only Canadian to win the silver medal. kylie masse The difference between her and the gold medal was eight-hundredths of a second.
Seeing the flip side of Omaha's disappointment underscored why Birkhoff tries so hard in moments like that, even amidst the frustration caused by the depth of the American backstroke.
“I think this is something very special because it's a very elite group in the United States and that makes it very difficult. But when it happens, it's just that much more rewarding. It’s big,” she said. “I've always believed in myself and I really believe in the training that I've been doing. I've been running really fast all year long and working hard for a long time, and I've always believed in myself. I really believe in that.”
road to trials
Even if the results waver, Berkoff's belief remains the same. She was struggling with the University of Virginia not winning a national title in 2023. Gretchen Walsh He took the 100 back record. Despite her season being interrupted by illness, she won two NCAA silver medals in relays, finished fifth in the 100 free with a personal best time (46.87 seconds, a school record), and fifth in the 50 free. became.
She finally broke through in the 100 back at the 2023 Trials, finishing second to Smith's U.S. Open record and also beating Smith in the 50 back. Her reward in Fukuoka was a gold and bronze medal in the 100-meter medley relay. Kayley McKeown And Smith.
Because of his busy schedule, Berkoff is carefully planning his goals for 2024. Written in her boldest ink is her goal, which she has had since she was five years old and is only accessible through her Olympic Trials. The NCAA season will be a stepping stone. Already in her fifth year the bonus was unexpected for her, but as soon as it was offered she jumped at it. Either way, Raleigh is scheduled to be her home base for her 2024 preparations, and she envisioned staying there to run in her 2028 Olympic Games.
No matter what happens in the NCAA pool this year, and Berkoff continues to post fast times during the season, it will be the beginning. Most importantly, the players who will pass the block in Indianapolis in June will be smarter, faster and more capable of handling physical and mental challenges than the players in Omaha three summers ago. Birkhoff knows this.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I knew I had a chance in 2021, but I feel more prepared now. I just feel like I'm a lot better and able to handle the pressure better than I was last year. That didn't happen at the World Champ Trials either, but for some reason I wasn't nervous in front of the 100 back. I knew I would make it.
“I feel like my mindset has really changed. I'm more confident that I'm doing everything I can to be the best I can be, even if I wasn't sure what was going to happen.”
