Boston College Athletics
Making A Splash At The National Level
June 16, 2021 | Swimming, #ForBoston Files
BC qualified its first two women ever for the US Olympic Team trials.
Both Ali Kea and Haley Dolan knew the excitement of the United States Olympic swimming team's quadrennial time trials. The Boston College teammates were used to watching their sport on national television once every four years, and they clung to the events as any other fan in the audience of an event. They were sprinters for the Eagles, so they especially appreciated the gladiatorial noise capable of swarming the peaceful serenity of a pool's calm waters.
But when the trials hit the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska this month, both gained a new appreciation for just how intense the event was for the competitors. Sure, it was a year delayed after COVID-19 postponed the entire 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but both Kea and Dolan weren't just watching the events; they were competing as the first Boston College qualifiers for the US Olympic trials in program history.
"You watch an event like this on TV every four years when it's on," Kea said. "When you get there, it's a completely different environment. Just walking through the checkpoints at each gate and being in a full arena with a pool in the middle, with 360-degree seating, it was crazy. But it was also super exciting. I was excited that this was my last meet, and for my last swim to go out on such a big stage was very exciting for me."
"It was really cool to watch the other events and see what other people do for their own prep," Dolan agreed, "but it was the most intense environment I've ever been in. It was the most intense battle ever, and it was a lot to take in. On the day of the race, I was originally freaking out before my event but then went through everything in my head. It's hard to keep a steady head on your shoulders, but I think that we did exactly what we needed to do."
Both raced their way into the event by breaking the minimum time barrier in the 50-meter freestyle, but there were marked differences in both Kea's and Dolan's road to Omaha. Kea qualified last year before COVID-19 postponed the Olympic experience after setting a time of 25.86 seconds at the ACC Long Course Invitational in February. She qualified alongside teammate Ashleigh Scott, whose 26.66 sent her through to the Team Canada trials.
Her journey was postponed a month later, however, when COVID-19's initial outbreak forced the International Olympic Committee to temporarily move the Olympics scheduled for the summer in Tokyo. The United States Olympic Committee followed suit, and on March 24, USA Swimming postponed its time trials.
"I had already qualified but it was definitely nerve-wracking," Kea said. "It was always something that's always been in the back of my head, and it started to become more of a reality for me as I got later into college. Getting my qualifying time right after the ACC (Championships) was one of my favorite moments ever because my whole team was on the sidelines cheering. Then a few weeks after that, the whole world shuts down, and the Olympics weren't going to happen. That everything might have been canceled was just devastating."
Her qualification ultimately held over to this summer's postponed event, but COVID-19's lingering effects forced her through an abbreviated season. BC swam in the US Open in November but followed it up with only one dual meet against outside competition. The Eagles swam three times in intrasquad formats, only one of which was after the first of the year, in order to prepare for the ACC Championship in late February. That placed the onus on Kea to prepare mentally and physically for a race one year after its original due date.
"When they did come out and announce that everything was being pushed back, I was really happy to learn I could still go," she said, "but I was nervous because I really didn't get to swim much this year. I got back into the pool in late July, early August, (and) Mike (Stephens, the BC head coach) was able to get all of us back into shape very quickly."
The shortened timeline provided context for both the relief of a return to the pool and the stress of simply not swimming all that often. It was a chance to train but limited the opportunities to truly compete against outside competition, and it placed added premiums on the actual recorded times. Dolan understood that better than anyone after she became the first Eagle to advance to the finals of the 50-yard freestyle since 2007.
She ran a time of 22.91 and finished 22nd in the conference, but it set a tone that landed her within range of USA Swimming's annual cut-off. Nearly three months after the college season ended, she clocked 25.88 in the 50-meter freestyle at the North Carolina Aquatic Club Long Course Qualifier. It sent her through to the USA trials and bested a disappointment she endured from the end of last season.
"The last time I went for this cut was a little over a year ago at the end of my sophomore year," she said. "We had the long course meet literally the day after the ACCs in North Carolina, and I missed (qualifying) by 0.2 seconds twice. After that, I thought it was too hard and I couldn't (take the disappointment) anymore."
The bitter disappointment stung through the spring even as it became obvious that the Olympics weren't going to go on as planned in 2020. Dolan was especially proud of Kea for qualifying for the USA meet, but after the national committee moved it forward, she saw another opportunity and possibly one last shot to qualify.
"It was a lot to deal with mentally to prepare again," she said. "I wasn't sure if the trials were going to be pushed back, and I wasn't in a good mental state at that point. So to do it again, in the same kind of scenario, was really cool to be able to be there with (Ali). I kind of realized that it was crazy to think back a year ago and how differently I saw the sport and saw myself in the sport. I realized that I could do this, and I have always been able to shift my mindset to understand what I can do."
It led the two Eagles to Omaha's unprecedented event in an unprecedented time. USA Swimming chopped its trials over several weekends in June, and both Kea and Dolan competed as part of the Wave I "wildcard weekend" between June 4-7. The winners from the largely-collegiate field advanced through to the next weekend's Wave II before possibly qualifying for the trials held to determine the US Olympic team.
"The pool was entirely lit up, but everything else was pretty much dark," Dolan said. "It feels like you're just in the pool, which is really cool. I was able to drown everything else out like in any other meet scenario like the ACCs or just a dual meet. I'm pretty much nervous leading up to the whole hour when I swim, but those last five minutes, I really get into what I need to do and don't think about the little things I was thinking about before."
"Since the meet was split up, (USA Swimming) actually allowed time trials after sessions were over," Kea said, "so I was able to time trial the 100-meter freestyle a couple of days prior. I wasn't expecting to be nervous for that event because it didn't really count for anything, but I was nervous because it was my first time experiencing the ready room, the bright lights, all of that. So when I got up on deck (for the 50-free), it felt familiar. I knew my parents were in the stands, and it was just me and the seven other girls on deck. It was really cool, and I just got excited."
It enabled them to compete before a national television audience and before an allowed crowd of spectators with confidence, and the subsequent race produced a 36th place finish for Dolan and 47th place finish for Kea. Both clocked times within a half-second of one another, and both established a new high-water mark for the BC program by becoming the first women to ever compete at the national Olympic time trial level.
"I was just so honored and blessed to be there," Dolan said. "One of the things I noticed was that there were all these high-level swimming schools, and I was in the exact spot as them. It was really cool to represent Boston College, which hasn't necessarily competed at that level in the past, and to reach up to the levels of Stanford, Arizona State, Florida and all those swimming schools. It shows how far this program can go, and we definitely got some looks on our caps. We were able to prove to all of those people that we could do the same thing that they do."
"When I came in as a freshman, the team was very different than how I'm leaving," Kea, who graduated this year, said. "I couldn't be more proud of it. I think it exemplifies what Mike has done for the program in a short amount of time. This would never have been possible a few short years ago, and we had so many people come up to us at the meet. We got so many people talking about us that didn't expect us to be there, and we had multiple people ready to go at the meet. Cal was there. Stanford was there. Florida was there. And so were we."
But when the trials hit the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska this month, both gained a new appreciation for just how intense the event was for the competitors. Sure, it was a year delayed after COVID-19 postponed the entire 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but both Kea and Dolan weren't just watching the events; they were competing as the first Boston College qualifiers for the US Olympic trials in program history.
"You watch an event like this on TV every four years when it's on," Kea said. "When you get there, it's a completely different environment. Just walking through the checkpoints at each gate and being in a full arena with a pool in the middle, with 360-degree seating, it was crazy. But it was also super exciting. I was excited that this was my last meet, and for my last swim to go out on such a big stage was very exciting for me."
"It was really cool to watch the other events and see what other people do for their own prep," Dolan agreed, "but it was the most intense environment I've ever been in. It was the most intense battle ever, and it was a lot to take in. On the day of the race, I was originally freaking out before my event but then went through everything in my head. It's hard to keep a steady head on your shoulders, but I think that we did exactly what we needed to do."
Both raced their way into the event by breaking the minimum time barrier in the 50-meter freestyle, but there were marked differences in both Kea's and Dolan's road to Omaha. Kea qualified last year before COVID-19 postponed the Olympic experience after setting a time of 25.86 seconds at the ACC Long Course Invitational in February. She qualified alongside teammate Ashleigh Scott, whose 26.66 sent her through to the Team Canada trials.
Her journey was postponed a month later, however, when COVID-19's initial outbreak forced the International Olympic Committee to temporarily move the Olympics scheduled for the summer in Tokyo. The United States Olympic Committee followed suit, and on March 24, USA Swimming postponed its time trials.
"I had already qualified but it was definitely nerve-wracking," Kea said. "It was always something that's always been in the back of my head, and it started to become more of a reality for me as I got later into college. Getting my qualifying time right after the ACC (Championships) was one of my favorite moments ever because my whole team was on the sidelines cheering. Then a few weeks after that, the whole world shuts down, and the Olympics weren't going to happen. That everything might have been canceled was just devastating."
Her qualification ultimately held over to this summer's postponed event, but COVID-19's lingering effects forced her through an abbreviated season. BC swam in the US Open in November but followed it up with only one dual meet against outside competition. The Eagles swam three times in intrasquad formats, only one of which was after the first of the year, in order to prepare for the ACC Championship in late February. That placed the onus on Kea to prepare mentally and physically for a race one year after its original due date.
"When they did come out and announce that everything was being pushed back, I was really happy to learn I could still go," she said, "but I was nervous because I really didn't get to swim much this year. I got back into the pool in late July, early August, (and) Mike (Stephens, the BC head coach) was able to get all of us back into shape very quickly."
The shortened timeline provided context for both the relief of a return to the pool and the stress of simply not swimming all that often. It was a chance to train but limited the opportunities to truly compete against outside competition, and it placed added premiums on the actual recorded times. Dolan understood that better than anyone after she became the first Eagle to advance to the finals of the 50-yard freestyle since 2007.
She ran a time of 22.91 and finished 22nd in the conference, but it set a tone that landed her within range of USA Swimming's annual cut-off. Nearly three months after the college season ended, she clocked 25.88 in the 50-meter freestyle at the North Carolina Aquatic Club Long Course Qualifier. It sent her through to the USA trials and bested a disappointment she endured from the end of last season.
"The last time I went for this cut was a little over a year ago at the end of my sophomore year," she said. "We had the long course meet literally the day after the ACCs in North Carolina, and I missed (qualifying) by 0.2 seconds twice. After that, I thought it was too hard and I couldn't (take the disappointment) anymore."
The bitter disappointment stung through the spring even as it became obvious that the Olympics weren't going to go on as planned in 2020. Dolan was especially proud of Kea for qualifying for the USA meet, but after the national committee moved it forward, she saw another opportunity and possibly one last shot to qualify.
"It was a lot to deal with mentally to prepare again," she said. "I wasn't sure if the trials were going to be pushed back, and I wasn't in a good mental state at that point. So to do it again, in the same kind of scenario, was really cool to be able to be there with (Ali). I kind of realized that it was crazy to think back a year ago and how differently I saw the sport and saw myself in the sport. I realized that I could do this, and I have always been able to shift my mindset to understand what I can do."
It led the two Eagles to Omaha's unprecedented event in an unprecedented time. USA Swimming chopped its trials over several weekends in June, and both Kea and Dolan competed as part of the Wave I "wildcard weekend" between June 4-7. The winners from the largely-collegiate field advanced through to the next weekend's Wave II before possibly qualifying for the trials held to determine the US Olympic team.
"The pool was entirely lit up, but everything else was pretty much dark," Dolan said. "It feels like you're just in the pool, which is really cool. I was able to drown everything else out like in any other meet scenario like the ACCs or just a dual meet. I'm pretty much nervous leading up to the whole hour when I swim, but those last five minutes, I really get into what I need to do and don't think about the little things I was thinking about before."
"Since the meet was split up, (USA Swimming) actually allowed time trials after sessions were over," Kea said, "so I was able to time trial the 100-meter freestyle a couple of days prior. I wasn't expecting to be nervous for that event because it didn't really count for anything, but I was nervous because it was my first time experiencing the ready room, the bright lights, all of that. So when I got up on deck (for the 50-free), it felt familiar. I knew my parents were in the stands, and it was just me and the seven other girls on deck. It was really cool, and I just got excited."
It enabled them to compete before a national television audience and before an allowed crowd of spectators with confidence, and the subsequent race produced a 36th place finish for Dolan and 47th place finish for Kea. Both clocked times within a half-second of one another, and both established a new high-water mark for the BC program by becoming the first women to ever compete at the national Olympic time trial level.
"I was just so honored and blessed to be there," Dolan said. "One of the things I noticed was that there were all these high-level swimming schools, and I was in the exact spot as them. It was really cool to represent Boston College, which hasn't necessarily competed at that level in the past, and to reach up to the levels of Stanford, Arizona State, Florida and all those swimming schools. It shows how far this program can go, and we definitely got some looks on our caps. We were able to prove to all of those people that we could do the same thing that they do."
"When I came in as a freshman, the team was very different than how I'm leaving," Kea, who graduated this year, said. "I couldn't be more proud of it. I think it exemplifies what Mike has done for the program in a short amount of time. This would never have been possible a few short years ago, and we had so many people come up to us at the meet. We got so many people talking about us that didn't expect us to be there, and we had multiple people ready to go at the meet. Cal was there. Stanford was there. Florida was there. And so were we."
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