Beata the Badger

BY MATT WULF
UW Athletic Communications

MADISON, Wis. — This is a story about Beata Nelson. But, it's really a story about the Badgers.

Let me explain.

Each morning, Nelson wakes up at 4:30 a.m., rolls out of bed and into the pool. After training, she spends an hour with an athletic trainer for recovery. She then goes to class before getting back to the gym. An hour-long lifting session precedes more training in the pool. After one more class, Nelson heads home, where she studies and occasionally squeezes in an episode of "How to Get Away with Murder" or "Grey's Anatomy."

Her routine has become more strenuous since making the jump to college swimming, but Nelson has followed a similar schedule for the better part of her life. She started swimming competitively at age 6, and has been bad news for her opponents ever since.

Nelson's commitment to swimming is as undeniable as it is admirable, but it draws a lot of questions.

"Everyone likes to ask me, 'Is it worth it?' Nelson said. "I always get that question."

It's a fair question. To the casual observer, Nelson's commitment to swimming seems absurd. She has spent hours upon hours, days upon days and years upon years preparing to swim in races that will last no more than two minutes.

"I'm not going to lie, when you put it like that, it doesn't make any sense," she said. "When you break it down to its simplest form, I don't know why anyone would want to do it."

The contrast between preparation and payoff is stark; but Nelson has always seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

"I feel like the sport chose me — that sounds so cliché and dramatic, like you could write a movie about that," she said.

"It's just a feeling … when I'm in the water I feel like I belong there. It used to be something that just made me feel comfortable, but now it's a way for me to get lost in something that I love to do."

Nelson has the unique ability to defer gratification to the future — the end goal can be far in the distance, but she will chase after it like she's in the home stretch. This, and her passion for the sport, are what drive her to dive into the pool each morning and work her tail off.

• • • •

If Nelson ever had doubts about her commitment to swimming, they ran through her head last year.

Nelson emerged as the top high school recruit in the country and faced extraordinary expectations upon entering her freshman year at Wisconsin. The Verona native had already claimed a number of UW Natatorium records during her high school career. She was sure to add more as a freshman.

But she didn't. Nelson's times failed to improve. Critics labeled her a bust.

A number of factors contributed to Nelson's "down" year, but it wasn't from a lack of hard work, making the slow start even more frustrating.

"It was hard. It's something that I hope to never experience again," she said. "There was a lot of self-doubt and confusion.

"I remember asking myself, 'Why am I putting in all of this time if I'm not getting the results I expect?' But, all along, I had people around me who believed I would get back where I was. I wasn't going to be like that forever."

The people around Nelson were right. She kept her nose to the grindstone and is now enjoying the fruits of her labor. The sophomore has been an explosive force for the Badgers this year, claiming first-place finishes and school records with regularity. As the Big Ten championships approached last month, it became clear that Nelson had an opportunity to claim her first individual conference title.

"Since I started swimming, I've had goals in mind," she said. "Being a conference champion in college was one of those goals."

Nelson ended up accomplishing that goal twice over. She earned gold medals in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.

Yet, Nelson's most impressive performance of the championships didn't earn her a Big Ten title.

As Nelson prepared for the final event of the meet's second day, the 400 medley relay, she stood with teammates Marissa Berg, Ari Saghafi and Emmy Sehmann, "and we were goofing off behind the block before the race started. We were ready to throw down, but I went into that relay with no expectations."

Nelson climbed into the water and proceeded to swim the second-fastest 100-yard backstroke in the history of swimming.

"I couldn't believe that time," she said. "I've heard of women going under 50 (seconds), but I never thought I would be someone who would do it."

Nelson finished in 49.78 seconds. If she played football, Nelson's swim would look something like Melvin Gordon's 408-yard game for the Wisconsin football team in 2014.

"At first, I thought the touchpad malfunctioned. I seriously could not believe it," she said.

"Our whole team couldn't believe it. We were all freaking out, hugging each other, crying. For us as a team, that was a special moment."

The emotion of the moment bled into the night. Nelson was only able to get three hours of sleep that evening; yet, she managed to pick up one of her individual Big Ten championships the following day.

118227 — **Nelson (center) says she is at her best when joining teammates, like Ari Saghafi and Marissa Berg, on relays.**

• • • •

Although the euphoria of that moment has faded, Nelson's performance in leading off that 400 medley relay has clarified two things:

First, Nelson is good. All of the naysayers from her freshman year are now quiet. She enters this week's NCAA championships in Columbus, Ohio, as the favorite to win the 100 back and a sure contender in the 200 back and 200 individual medley, as well. She's also likely to swim on four of UW's five relays.

Second, Nelson isn't swimming for herself.

The best swim of her career didn't happen during an individual event, instead it happened during a relay. She swam a 49.78 during a relay.

"I've always know this about myself. I perform so much better when I'm chasing someone or if I'm in a relay," she said. "The individual wins are nice, but I honestly care much more about the team."

Obviously, Nelson is saying the right thing here. You're not supposed to be focused on yourself, you're supposed to defer to the team.

But she means it.

Nelson is looking at the Natatorium record board and is told there's a case to be made that she will leave UW as the most successful swimmer in program history.

It may be the chlorine in the air, but Nelson starts to choke up.

"The individual accolades, some people strive for that. That's not what motivates me at all," she said. "I want to be someone who makes a difference in this program, and leaves it better than when I got here."

Nelson looks up to that record board and sees a mirror. Names like Ivy Martin and Maggie Meyer — who, in 2011, won the same 100 back national title that Nelson will chase this week — set the standard.

Among those names is graduating senior Marissa Berg. Berg and Nelson have been teammates for the past two years, and the NCAA championships will be their last time competing together.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to go through NCAAs with the girls who won't get to do it again," Nelson said. "Marissa Berg, Maddie Martin and Abby Jagdfeld. Those three are the strength of this team. Leadership, positivity, hard work — they epitomize what a Badger should be."

Which is why this story isn't really the Beata Nelson story — it's the Wisconsin story. As transcendent as she has the potential to become, Nelson is just another Badger. She has stepped in line with the hard-working, relentless swimmers who came before her.

During Nelson's disappointing freshman year — when she wasn't sure if the hard work was actually worth it — she didn't need to look far to understand that things would work out if she pushed through the struggle.

"As much as it sucked last year, working hard and not finding the success, I knew that it would come," Nelson said. "Marissa Berg helped me see that. She came into this program, worked hard, stayed patient, and got better each year. She epitomizes how success should work."

And, if success does work that way, Wisconsin should expect a lot of it in the coming years.

The Badgers have a top-of-the-line coaching staff that still has a chip on its shoulder, a new pool soon to be under construction and another wave of talented recruits that look set to buy in to the Wisconsin way. Oh, and two more years of Beata Nelson.

It won't be long before Nelson finds herself in Berg's role, leading by example and setting the standard for her younger teammates. If the last two years are any indication, Nelson will keep working hard and keep improving. It's just what Badgers do.

But, right now, it is all about this moment. All of those hours, days, months and years of training — they all have been leading to this year's NCAA championships.

Asked if she can go faster at NCAAs, Nelson replied, "Oh yeah. I'm ready to throw down."

Don't bet against her.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

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