BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. -- Paige McKenna was 18 months old when she first began to size up her passion. She accompanied her mother to a swim class for tots, designed to get youngsters used to being in the water. During one of the introductory sessions, parents were instructed to get into the pool with their child and dunk their tiny heads.

"I took her because I didn't want her to be afraid of the water like me," Margaret McKenna said of her youngest daughter. "When they told me to blow in her face and dunk the baby, I just cringed. But she came up from under the water laughing hysterical."

From that point on, Margaret said, Paige always wanted to be at the pool and always loved to swim whether it was the local Y or summer leagues. Her enthusiasm and budding capabilities eventually led her parents to seek out a place where Paige could get elite instruction.

That's how Paige wound up spending four years training at the prestigious Nation's Capital Swim Club in Washington, D.C. Margaret, an operating room nurse, accompanied her daughter and Paige took online courses. In the meantime, Paige's father, Sean, stayed back at the family home in Easton, Pa., working as the energy manager for the local school district and watching over their other child, Grace.

Margaret said the family zeroed in on the Nation's Capital Swim Club because they wanted Paige, one of the top long-distance swimmers in her U.S. age group, to work with Bruce Gemmell, who helped turn Katie Ledecky into a seven-time Olympic gold medalist.

"I felt like I needed to follow her talents," Margaret said of the decision to move.

So far, the plan has benefitted all involved. Paige signed with Wisconsin instead of Virginia or North Carolina State in part because UW head coach Yuri Suguiyama once worked with Ledecky at the Nation's Capital Swim Club and because she struck up an instant rapport with UW associate head coach Erik Posegay. McKenna proceeded to write an engaging story during her freshman season, following up Big Ten Conference titles in the 500 freestyle and 1,650 free with an NCAA championship in the 1,650 last month. Her time in the last, longest and most grueling race of the season was a personal best 15 minutes, 40.84 seconds. She also finished sixth in the 500 in a PR clocking of 4:37.35.

That Paige put together such a stirring college debut is astounding when you consider she competed with two torn labrums; one in each hip. The injuries developed at the height of the pandemic when facilities like gyms and swim clubs were shuttered. Paige and her swimming friends opted for running to stay in shape. She said the labrums – a rim of cartilage that lines and reinforces a ball and socket joint like the hip or shoulder – were torn by an impingement she didn't know she had in her hips.

Posegay, who spent the last four seasons at UW working with the long-distance specialists, credited Paige and athletic trainer Stef Zavala for crafting a sensible approach to rehab, treatment and strategic days off from practice to manage the injury.

"Her pain threshold is off the charts," Posegay said of McKenna. "She had to go through a lot this year dealing with that.

"Part of what makes her special is her racing instincts and her ability to endure pain and block it out. She's very mentally tough."

Suguyiama said Paige gradually worked her way into optimal shape and was peaking just as the Big Ten meet rolled around. He said the confidence she generated from that event carried over to the NCAA meet, where she joined Phoebe Bacon (2021), Beata Nelson ('19) and Maggie Meyer ('11) as the lone national titlists in program history.

Margaret said her daughter told her that one of her goals as a freshman was to win an NCAA title.

"She's tough," Margaret said. "When she puts her mind to something and I know she wants it bad enough, there's nothing that stops her."

The NCAA meet provided a snapshot into the kind of person Paige has become. She raced against the meet's controversial headline-maker, Lia Thomas from Penn, who won the 500 to become the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA title in any sport. Her victory came amid protests from people who feel it's unfair to automatically include transgender athletes in women's competition.

McKenna was asked about Thomas after her victory in the 1,650. She said she had a lot of respect for Thomas.

"People need to be nicer," Paige said. "No one should be hating on someone this much."

Posegay, who recently stepped down from his UW post to become the national junior team director for USA Swimming, said he texted McKenna after her press conference to compliment her thoughtfulness.

"It was a very mature response," he said. "We need more thoughtful responses in society today."

Paige's handling of the matter isn't a surprise when you know of her relationship with her sister.

Grace, born 22 months before Paige, has Rubenstein Taybi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder with a wide range of physical and intellectual issues. One in 300,000 infants are born with RTS.

"Grace has a lot more things to overcome than the average child," Margaret said. "She still does and always will."

Margaret said she and her husband were told by specialists that there was only a 1-percent chance that they would conceive another child with RTS.

"When Grace came along, I knew she would need somebody after my husband and I weren't here anymore," Margaret said. "We've told Paige that God blessed us with you because you'd be the perfect person to take care of Grace and she is. She's so kind, responsible and loving. We are blessed."

Paige said her 20-year-old sister thinks like a 10-year-old. For a time, Grace was unable to talk and needed a feeding tube for nourishment. Now she's involved with baseball, bowling and cheerleading as part of Special Olympics. She loves swings and hats. Grace is the reason Paige tries to bring a positive mindset to each day.

"I miss her a lot," Paige said, noting they speak on the phone occasionally. "I always think of her when I'm swimming. I want to make Grace proud."

Paige said she's tried to be more patient and understanding because of Grace.

"I've learned how to be more accepting and more grateful for everything I have," Paige said.

"I think having a special-needs (sibling) makes you a better person," Margaret said. "You have to have more patience. You have to be more understanding."

The atmosphere and rhetoric surrounding Thomas' presence at the NCAA meet triggered something in Paige.

"I've always wanted to protect my sister from those things," she said. "I feel very protective of her."

Posegay described Paige as "extremely thoughtful, extremely caring and "very compassionate toward others." He said her family is her top priority.

"She's doing it for them," he said. "Yes, she wants to do well for the team, but you get that deep sense of how much her family means to her when you see her celebrate. She always looks to her family first."

Paige said her family has visited Madison, seen the new aquatic center and were on hand for the Big Ten meet in mid-February.

"She's incredibly close with them," Suguiyama said. "I see how she lights up when they're in the stands. I think it's a source of inspiration. She draws a lot from her family's experiences."

Looking back on her first NCAA meet, Paige said she was an unknown. She admittedly struggled with her fitness and nerves at the U. S. Olympic Trials and didn't make the team that competed in the Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.

"I don't think anyone knew who I was," she said of her pre-NCAA profile. "I just stayed in my lane."

That won't be the case anymore. Her UW debut surely puts her on the radar for the 2024 Games in Paris. 

"She possesses elite-level racing awareness," Posegay said. "It did not surprise me that she was able dictate how that (1,650) race was going to be swung. She just has a feel for racing that is beyond her years."