Photo by: David Stluka
Chase Kinney working to fill key role for Badgers this season
November 12, 2015 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Junior sprinter looks to take over for graduating All-American Ivy Martin
MADISON, Wis. – With the impressive collegiate career of seven-time 2015 Big Ten Champion Ivy Martin concluded, a new role opened up this season for the Wisconsin women's swimming team. It's only fitting that Martin's training partner and former teammate, Chase Kinney, has stepped in and hit the water sprinting. It hasn't taken Kinney long, either, as she won four events and earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week accolades with the first action of her junior season.
Kinney became Wisconsin's first Big Ten Swimmer of the Week since, you guessed it, Ivy Martin.
"I have some pretty big goals. Since Ivy (Martin) left, I feel like I need to step up and take on the role that she had," Kinney said. "Swimming at the Big Ten championships, Ivy won every event that she was in last season, so those are big shoes to fill, but I really want to try and go for a Big Ten championship win in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle."
The Canton, Ohio, native made those intentions clear with her impressive debut that helped lead Wisconsin in a statement season-opening win against Minnesota.
"It's really exciting, because I'm starting out faster than I ended last season dual meet-wise, so I'm really excited to get better every meet," Kinney said. "Beating Minnesota was huge for us. We don't remember the last time the women's team ever did that."
The 152-148 win over reigning Big Ten champ Minnesota was made possible in large part by Kinney's four first-place finishes.Â
The two-time first team All-Big Ten and All-American honoree sparked fire right from the start by anchoring the Badgers' 200-yard freestyle relay team to a win. Coming into the fourth leg of the race, Wisconsin trailed Minnesota by nearly half of a body length and over half of a second. Off an exchange from butterflier Dana Grindall, Kinney dove into the pool and beat Minnesota's Lauren Votava on the turn to take home the first win of the night for the Badgers.Â
After a small break period, Kinney returned to the pool to not only win the 50-yard freestyle, but she paced the field by over an entire second in the sprint to take home her second title of the night. Her time of 22.62 seconds currently ranks in a three-way tie for the fourth-best mark nationally among Division I schools. Kinney's time still leads the Big Ten by two tenths of a second over Michigan's Ali DeLoof.Â
Kinney clinched her second individual title and third overall against Minnesota in the 100-yard freestyle, topping Votava for the second time of the meet at the UW Natatorium. Her winning time of 49.90 seconds in the 100 freestyle ranks 15th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten.Â
With the meet winding down and chances for team points thinning, the Badgers slightly trailed entering the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay. After Minnesota got off to a fast start with its lead leg of the relay, Wisconsin trailed by almost 2.5 seconds. That was before Kinney dove in and swam an unbelievable second leg and made up almost two full seconds to pull the Badgers right back in contention and keep their chances alive not only in the event, but in the meet. Emmy Sehmann and Marissa Berg finished the job the Badgers, who were sparked by Kinney and came from behind to beat the Gophers by almost a full second to capture their second relay crown of the night and clinch the team victory.Â
Kinney's split in the 400 freestyle relay was the fastest split of the event of any swimmer by over a full second.Â
Wisconsin's winning time of 3:21.97 ranks ninth nationally and trails only Michigan in the Big Ten.
Riding the momentum of the win, Kinney and her teammates look take the momentum forward throughout the rest of the season.Â
"We want to keep that momentum rolling for Indiana on Friday and some of the other big teams we have this year," Kinney said. "It's really exciting and I'm really excited to train hard and see what I can do at the end of the season."
Training hard has not been a question thus far for Kinney. Even better, she's been able to continue with former teammate Ivy Martin, who's training with the Badgers as a volunteer assistant coach while preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next summer.Â
"It's really nice that she's still going to be here training with us because I'll have her for a confidence booster," Kinney said of Martin. "For example, at practice if I need to talk to anyone, I'll have her. If I'm nervous about being the person that's on top now, which is kind of scary, I'll still have her to help me out. But I'm really excited to take on the new challenge."
For Kinney, Martin's natural demeanor and stature are characteristics that have stuck with her throughout their time training together.
"She really seemed confident and composed all the time. If I was ever nervous before a race, I'd go up to her and she would calm me down," Kinney said. "Some of the freshmen this year are nervous too, and I've talked to them a little bit.Â
"It's going to be different being the person that people look up to instead of looking up to someone else, but I'll just give them advice from the experiences that I've had. I've been at a lot of meets in some big pressure situations, so just telling them how it feels and giving them some confidence."
Kinney is no stranger to pressure situations. She made an immediate impact for Wisconsin on both the Big Ten and national stage right away as a freshman, helping the Badgers to a pair of Big Ten titles in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays, as well as a sixth- and eighth-place finish in the same events at the 2014 NCAA Championships. As a sophomore, Kinney was a part of UW's freestyle relay teams that finished fourth in the 200-yard relay and sixth in the 400-yard relay at the NCAA championships last March. Both of last year's relay times at NCAAs reset school records.Â
Looking ahead to this season, Kinney's aspirations span beyond the dual meet season.
"I want to carry it over to some individual swims at NCAAs," Kinney said of her training and competition this season. "Our relay is going to be super good this year. We have some good freshmen contributing. Our coaches have been talking to us about working toward being number one at NCAAs, so it's going to be an exciting championship season."
The road to the championship season continues this weekend, as Kinney and the Badgers take to the road for dual meets against Indiana on Friday and Northwestern on Saturday.
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Kinney became Wisconsin's first Big Ten Swimmer of the Week since, you guessed it, Ivy Martin.
"I have some pretty big goals. Since Ivy (Martin) left, I feel like I need to step up and take on the role that she had," Kinney said. "Swimming at the Big Ten championships, Ivy won every event that she was in last season, so those are big shoes to fill, but I really want to try and go for a Big Ten championship win in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle."
The Canton, Ohio, native made those intentions clear with her impressive debut that helped lead Wisconsin in a statement season-opening win against Minnesota.
"It's really exciting, because I'm starting out faster than I ended last season dual meet-wise, so I'm really excited to get better every meet," Kinney said. "Beating Minnesota was huge for us. We don't remember the last time the women's team ever did that."
The 152-148 win over reigning Big Ten champ Minnesota was made possible in large part by Kinney's four first-place finishes.Â
The two-time first team All-Big Ten and All-American honoree sparked fire right from the start by anchoring the Badgers' 200-yard freestyle relay team to a win. Coming into the fourth leg of the race, Wisconsin trailed Minnesota by nearly half of a body length and over half of a second. Off an exchange from butterflier Dana Grindall, Kinney dove into the pool and beat Minnesota's Lauren Votava on the turn to take home the first win of the night for the Badgers.Â
After a small break period, Kinney returned to the pool to not only win the 50-yard freestyle, but she paced the field by over an entire second in the sprint to take home her second title of the night. Her time of 22.62 seconds currently ranks in a three-way tie for the fourth-best mark nationally among Division I schools. Kinney's time still leads the Big Ten by two tenths of a second over Michigan's Ali DeLoof.Â
Kinney clinched her second individual title and third overall against Minnesota in the 100-yard freestyle, topping Votava for the second time of the meet at the UW Natatorium. Her winning time of 49.90 seconds in the 100 freestyle ranks 15th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten.Â
With the meet winding down and chances for team points thinning, the Badgers slightly trailed entering the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay. After Minnesota got off to a fast start with its lead leg of the relay, Wisconsin trailed by almost 2.5 seconds. That was before Kinney dove in and swam an unbelievable second leg and made up almost two full seconds to pull the Badgers right back in contention and keep their chances alive not only in the event, but in the meet. Emmy Sehmann and Marissa Berg finished the job the Badgers, who were sparked by Kinney and came from behind to beat the Gophers by almost a full second to capture their second relay crown of the night and clinch the team victory.Â
Kinney's split in the 400 freestyle relay was the fastest split of the event of any swimmer by over a full second.Â
Wisconsin's winning time of 3:21.97 ranks ninth nationally and trails only Michigan in the Big Ten.
Riding the momentum of the win, Kinney and her teammates look take the momentum forward throughout the rest of the season.Â
"We want to keep that momentum rolling for Indiana on Friday and some of the other big teams we have this year," Kinney said. "It's really exciting and I'm really excited to train hard and see what I can do at the end of the season."
Training hard has not been a question thus far for Kinney. Even better, she's been able to continue with former teammate Ivy Martin, who's training with the Badgers as a volunteer assistant coach while preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next summer.Â
"It's really nice that she's still going to be here training with us because I'll have her for a confidence booster," Kinney said of Martin. "For example, at practice if I need to talk to anyone, I'll have her. If I'm nervous about being the person that's on top now, which is kind of scary, I'll still have her to help me out. But I'm really excited to take on the new challenge."
For Kinney, Martin's natural demeanor and stature are characteristics that have stuck with her throughout their time training together.
"She really seemed confident and composed all the time. If I was ever nervous before a race, I'd go up to her and she would calm me down," Kinney said. "Some of the freshmen this year are nervous too, and I've talked to them a little bit.Â
"It's going to be different being the person that people look up to instead of looking up to someone else, but I'll just give them advice from the experiences that I've had. I've been at a lot of meets in some big pressure situations, so just telling them how it feels and giving them some confidence."
Kinney is no stranger to pressure situations. She made an immediate impact for Wisconsin on both the Big Ten and national stage right away as a freshman, helping the Badgers to a pair of Big Ten titles in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays, as well as a sixth- and eighth-place finish in the same events at the 2014 NCAA Championships. As a sophomore, Kinney was a part of UW's freestyle relay teams that finished fourth in the 200-yard relay and sixth in the 400-yard relay at the NCAA championships last March. Both of last year's relay times at NCAAs reset school records.Â
Looking ahead to this season, Kinney's aspirations span beyond the dual meet season.
"I want to carry it over to some individual swims at NCAAs," Kinney said of her training and competition this season. "Our relay is going to be super good this year. We have some good freshmen contributing. Our coaches have been talking to us about working toward being number one at NCAAs, so it's going to be an exciting championship season."
The road to the championship season continues this weekend, as Kinney and the Badgers take to the road for dual meets against Indiana on Friday and Northwestern on Saturday.
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