In the fall of 2020, amid the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic that continued to dictate daily life, there was Phoebe Bacon — not even a month into the start of her collegiate swimming career — pedaling to practice.
When she made the decision to forgo a potential deferral and leave the comfort of her family and hometown in Maryland to commence her time as a Badger, Bacon, then 18 years old, didn’t envision having to travel off campus to an outdoor pool to train. But that was her reality. The Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, the University of Wisconsin swimming and diving’s home, wasn’t open, which meant 5-mile bike rides once a day to train.
“I was pretty worried,” said Bacon, now a sage senior, chuckling as she recounted the story. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, is this what I left my club coach, my cushy home for? Dorm living, dorm food and swimming 5 miles away once a day?’ But I stuck through it. I was like, ‘It’s gonna get better.’”
COVID-19 policies barred coaches from working with athletes on campus, so Wisconsin coach Yuri Suguiyama and his team rented time at a local neighborhood pool. The training times were sporadic and there were limitations on how many people could be in a lane.
But Suguiyama realized quickly that this freshman swimmer was special. The accolades that predated Bacon’s arrival in Madison — she won two gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Games and was a top-5 recruit nationally in the class of 2020 — illustrated her talent. Still, at the collegiate level, “everyone’s talented, everyone works hard,” he said.
There was something different about Bacon, though.
The main indicator? She was always asking for more, whether it be extra time in the pool or recommendations for a certain lifting exercise.
“What I saw in that time period was that, despite all the challenges that we had, Phoebe was willing to go above and beyond,” he said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘OK, this can happen. She can get to the level she wants to get because she possesses all the intangibles that an athlete needs to have to really be a national champion or to be an Olympian.”
A mere six months into her collegiate career, the hardware began to pile up. She took home first place in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke at the Big Ten Championships en route to the conference’s freshman of the year honor. Then, at the NCAA Championships in March 2021, she touched the wall at 1 minute, 48.32 seconds to win the 200 backstroke title.
“It was pretty surreal,” Bacon said. “It just helped to prove that I made the right decision coming to Wisconsin, not deferring a year and that Yuri is such an amazing coach. It just helped solidify everything in my brain a little bit — that I’m moving in the right direction and what is best for me.”
Bacon felt a renewed excitement heading into the Olympic trials, where she bested Regan Smith, who was the record holder then, for second place to secure a trip to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Despite the damper of numerous COVID-19 restrictions, Bacon called it “an inspiring environment to be in,” one where she was able to forge tight connections with the best athletes on the planet as they raced and competed. Bacon placed fifth in the 200-meter backstroke final.
“There’s ups, there’s downs,” Bacon said. “You see every single emotion run through people at the Olympics, and that’s partly what’s so special about it. You may be having one emotion and somebody’s going to have another one. But you know that you are doing something that’s so incredible that you’re always proud of each other.
“I was just so thankful that I had the opportunity to go. … It was fun, it was wild and I would love to go again.”
Nearly three years have passed since her Olympic debut and make no mistake about it, Bacon has her eyes set on Paris. She’s also focused on adding more individual hardware at the NCAA Championships, which begin Wednesday and run through Saturday in Athens, Georgia.
“I want to go to NCAAs and I want to perform at the highest possible ability that I have,” Bacon said. “But also, with it being an Olympic year and Olympic trials coming up relatively shortly after, whatever happens, I know I’m going to have to use that to either fuel the fire or learn from building into the Olympic trials.”
Juggling her senior season with the Badgers and her preparation for the Olympic trials in June has been a tough balancing act.
A lot of swimmers might opt to redshirt during an Olympic year to prepare for the summer gauntlet, former Wisconsin swimmer and three-time national champion Beata Nelson said. But not Bacon.
“Somebody like Phoebe thrives off of being a teammate, doing things for her teammates and feeling like she’s doing something bigger than herself,” said Nelson, now a volunteer assistant coach for Wisconsin.
The bigger picture focus remains on her performance this summer at the Olympic trials and qualifying for the Olympics, but individual and team success with the Badgers remains important. Bacon rotates between training long course meters and short course yards as a result. Mixing in both throughout the last few months allows the transition between the NCAA and international seasons to be “a little bit more seamless,” Suguiyama said.
“They go hand-in-hand,” he said, “Racing is always good and being in intense environments, like NCAA swimming, is only going to help.”
Suguiyama has noticed “a little bit of a different drive” from Bacon this season after not reaching the level of success she wanted last summer. It’s materialized in the form of two titles already — the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley at the Big Ten Championships. Her success earned her Swimmer of the Championship for the first time in her career.
Focus now shifts to the NCAA Championships. Reflecting ahead of what could very well be Bacon’s final collegiate meet, Nelson said Bacon “has elevated this program to a level that I always dreamed it would be.”
But Bacon isn’t taking stock of her time in Madison just yet. After notching second place finishes in consecutive seasons in the 200 backstroke, her goal is simple: “I don’t want to get second again.”
Olympic swimmer Phoebe Bacon won two events at the Big Ten Championships and was the league's swimmer of the championships. She was recognized and threw out t-shirts during a men's basketball game on March 7.