Engel Wraps Up Olympic Trials

OMAHA – Former Iowa State swimmer Marissa Engel moved up more than 35 spots from her pre-race seed in the 200 backstroke at the U.S.A. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha Friday.

Engel swam in the first heat of her event, taking fifth place with a time of 2:19.20. The Grayslake, Illinois, native finished No. 103 in the event, up 36 spots from her pre-race seed of 139^th.

"I had a lot of adrenaline and that can either help you or hurt you," Engel said. "It's an unfamiliar environment so a lot of things are going through my head the whole race like, 'When are they going to put the flags down? When are they going to put the foot rest on?' So being in that first heat, I was ready to swim but I was really overwhelmed. It was a great experience – I'm really happy about everything."

Engel said heading into the race that it would likely be her final competitive event as a swimmer. Her decorated career includes a pairs of All-Big 12 First-Team, Second-Team and Academic honors. Engel also has multiple CSCAA Scholar All-America awards on her résumé.

Knowing that the end of a career is near is one thing, but the feeling of the end was still sinking in after the race.

"I can't believe that was my last race ever. It was going through my head the whole race," Engel said. "As I was swimming it I wish I had the GoPro [camera] on my head so I could remember forever – I probably still will – the view that you get as you swim underneath that jumbotron. It's just amazing… Even if I didn't swim as well as I wanted to, even if I didn't get a best time, I still enjoyed it the whole time."

On top of anticipating the end of her competitive career, Engel said the environment of the Olympic Trials made for a surreal event. Warming up alongside Olympic champions made for a unique atmosphere that made the gravitas of the day apparent.

"I'm sitting in the [warm-up] room back there and I see Ryan Lochte, I see Michael Phelps and I'm like, 'Alright, cool. I belong here. Just blend in,'" Engel joked.

Engel completed her eligibility with the Cyclones this spring, but has one year remaining in Iowa State's architecture program. During the upcoming school year, Engel will work with the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.

"I think I'll still swim and be in the water. I'm not very coordinated on land. I played a couple land sports, but I'm a water athlete. I also don't like to sweat," Engel said with a laugh.

Putting such an emotion-filled day into perspective is a difficult task – especially when it's only a few minutes after the end of a career. Engel knows, however, that the chance to perform on this stage in front of thousands of the sport's biggest fans is a memory of this day that will never be replaced.

"Even if you can't pull out the time, the experience is what I'll focus on," Engel said. "At conference, I really enjoyed the 200 IM. I'm used to that atmosphere so I thought about the time [I swam]. That's what made me happy [about that meet]. Here, it'll be the atmosphere and experiences that'll make me happy."

Players Mentioned

Marissa Engel

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