Frederica Kizek: The Improbable Path to a Dream NCAA Appearance

Frederica Kizek -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Frederica Kizek: The Improbable Path to Dream NCAA Appearance

At their peak, the NCAA Championships are the world’s most competitive team-based swim meet. Tiny margins often determine the difference between championships and runnerup finishes, championship finals and consolation finals. Over a dramatic three-and-a-half days, swimmers must balance qualifying swims, finals swims and relays, giving every ounce of energy and emotion, with the team finish the ultimate priority. Occasionally, special swimmers wow those in attendance with record-smashing performances.

That is the NCAA Championships experience that most fans witness. But look deeper into the meet, into the early heats of events and the non-title-contending teams from mid-major conferences, and you find something else: the experience of a lifetime, all the training and racing and coaching and camaraderie culminating in one special moment.

That’s what played out Saturday afternoon in Athens, Ga., with a 4:08 p.m. start time for heat two of the 1650 freestyle, held two hours before the top-seeded swimmers would square off at the start of the finals session. In lane four was Frederica Kizek, a fifth-year swimmer from Nevada seeded 33rd in the event with an entry time 16:11.82. Kizek was never in contention to win the event or even score points, the type of swimmer few notice as they trickle into the building for the finals session.

But Kizek experienced a unique career path on her way to this NCAA Championships, unexpectedly qualifying for the meet at a time when she figured her career would have been over — and with the greatest performance of her career.

A Career Extended and Invigorated

Kizek competed as an undergrad for Southern Methodist University, with solid results that included a conference title in the 1650 free. But as the end of her four years approached, Kizek began to consider the possibility of continuing in the sport. She had lost a big chunk of her sophomore season to COVID-19, and she gained an extra year of eligibility, which was allowed to athletes because of the pandemic. However, any future swimming plans were secondary as Kizek prioritized academics, seeking a graduate degree in the particularly demanding field of biotechnology.

“During my senior year, I was kind of starting to think, ‘What if I just gave it one more go?’” Kizek said. “I wanted to continue my education, and so I started looking into different master’s programs that were specific to biotech. Once I found those programs, I was like, ‘What if I could swim for them?’ Nevada was one of the big ones that I was really interested in. I wanted to go somewhere that I could focus on my academics. Being in such a demanding program, I wanted to dedicate enough time to that.

“It really was a career choice and somewhere that I could have fun, swim a little bit more, see what happens. It wasn’t something I initially thought about, but it made sense as I got closer to graduation.”

Frederica Kizek — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

That brought Kizek to Reno, Nevada, a cross-country move for a swimmer who had grown up in Katy, Texas, outside of Houston and attended college in Dallas. But she arrived off a break from swimming and enthusiastic about racing one more year as an experienced swimmer on a team that had turned over all but a few swimmers on its roster.

“Coming into team where I want to say we were 18 newcomers and three to four returners, and I was the only fifth-year transfer coming in, I think it was both exciting and nerve-wracking. It’s like, ‘How is this going to work?’ We could either fly really high or crash and burn. We all kind of just really came together in a great way,” Kizek said. “It was also interesting to step into it as a leader and kind of guide the girls from what I experienced during my first four years. It was a big adjustment for all of us, but I really think we made it work at the end.”

That was especially true for Kizek, who bludgeoned her lifetime-best times at the meet she planned on being her last, the Mountain West Championships. Leading off the Wolf Pack’s 800 free relay on night one, she broke 1:50 in the 200 free for the first time. A day later, she led for most of the way in the 500 free final before falling a second short at the end, but her final time of 4:44.85 was the quickest of her career by almost two seconds. In the 400 IM, Kizek again took second, clocking 4:13.61 to knock more than four seconds from her previous best.

Finally, she pulled away form the field for the win in the 1650 free, notching a time of 16:11.82 that was almost 16 seconds ahead of her best time from her days at SMU. That swim, Kizek had imagined, would be the last of her career, and she swam an inspired race. Aiming high following her performances earlier in the meet, Kizek realized she was pulling off a special performance as she pulled away from the field, but a drop to this extent? No way.

“When I was kind of writing out my plan for how I wanted the 1650 to go, how we were going to count for it and shaking (the lap counter) and all that kind of stuff, I was shooting for a pretty fast time,” Kizek said. “I don’t know what it would add up to be, but it was under 16:20. I thought a 10-second drop was realistic after I dropped five seconds in the 500. When I was doing the race, they weren’t really shaking much, so I was like, ‘Maybe I’m holding onto this.’ It was really a fun race. Swimming fast is always fun, even if it’s the mile. When I touched the wall, I was in shock, so excited, so happy.”

A perfect way to wrap up a career, right? Kizek thought so, at least until Nevada assistant coach Adriana Contreras mentioned a possibility: that might be good enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Dream

Kizek had never qualified for NCAAs. She described the national meet as “always in the dream goals column, not really the realistic.” But that 16-minute race had earned her a spot among the nation’s best. Kizek would have to wait more than a week for the selection to be official, so she returned to training in a state of limbo but full of pride following her conference performance. “It was definitely a really cool thought to have, but I told myself that no matter what happens, you just had the meet of your life,” Kizek said. “You did exactly what you wanted to go. Either way that it goes, I would have been happy.”

Indeed, she would get the nod, with freshman backstroker Scarlett Ferris and veteran diver Melissa Mirafuentes also heading to Athens, Ga., to represent Nevada. This time, Kizek was sure the meet would be her last, with no further qualification beyond the national level. And wanting to make sure she enjoyed the entire experience, Kizek decided her racing schedule would be one-and-done. She was eligible to swim both the 500 free and 400 IM by virtue of earning “B” cuts in the event, but she opted to focus on only the mile.

“My first and last one, so I wanted to take the time and give myself the opportunity to not just stress out about racing but also enjoy it, take it all in and support my teammates as well,” Kizek said.

Frederica Kizek — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Sitting down with Swimming World Friday afternoon after a warmup swim, Kizek imagined how she would feel while sitting behind the blocks awaiting her special swim. She had a race plan in mind, but she knew that emotions would factor in. How could that not be the case with the chance to conclude a swimming lifetime at the most prestigious and competitive of meets?

Twenty-four hours out, Kizek considered some of the previous special moments: winning the 1650 free at the American Athletic Conference championships her junior season, her senior meet at SMU and her second senior meet this season with Nevada. The visiting team at that latter competition was New Mexico, now coached by Naya Higashijima, who had been the associate head coach at SMU during Kizek’s career there. Higashijima was again on deck at the Mountain West meet to celebrate with Kizek after her stunning performances there.

“I think being here, all of those things are coming back to me, and I have the biggest smile on my face thinking about that kind of stuff,” Kizek said. “It’s awesome to know that so many people are cheering with you and supporting you.”

The Final Race

Kizek dove in for her NCAA mile and quickly found herself in a race for second place, with Indiana’s Elyse Heiser pulling ahead of the field early on and maintaining that lead. Early on, Kizek was splitting slightly behind her pace from her 16-second drop at the conference meet, but she steadily built her 50-yard efforts until she was only tenths behind. One final surge brought her to the wall in 16:11.91, merely nine hundredths back of her conference time. When all the heats were concluded, Kizek ended up in 29th place, four spots better than her seed.

Disappointment as she climbed out of the pool and collected her belongings from lane four? Nope. Kizek had insisted beforehand, “I’m just going to go have some fun, swim fast, and whatever the time is at the end at the end, it is what it is. I’ve had a great year, so it’s fine.”

Clothing in hand, Kizek slowly walked toward the lane-eight side of the pool to embrace teammates and coaches as the next heat began their trek through 66 laps. As those eight swimmers neared the halfway point, Kizek posed for one more photo in front of the NCAA Championships podium before walking off.

From there, Kizek would move on. A spring break vacation beckoned, and then it was back to graduate school to continue studying biotechnology, the sort of field where Kizek will be in position to change the world for the better. Competitive swimming is over for her, and the final race was imperfect but pretty darn close, as good as any swimmer can ask for. Now, as a self-described “sentimental person,” Kizek will surely look back fondly on the day when she finished among the best swimmers in the country at NCAA Championships.

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Markosha

8 months ago

Absolutely love stories like this thank you.

mds

8 months ago

A reason to love our sport. Thanks to all involved on every level in Frederica’s swim path.