A Season Nearly Lost

Haley Ruegemer came to Iowa State as 2015's No. 15 ranked recruit out of Minnesota. Throughout her first three seasons as a Cyclone, she accumulated four All-Big 12 honors and two Academic All-Big 12 recognitions. She is currently in Iowa State's top-five in four different events, and also holds a share of the 800 freestyle relay record. Expectations were high for the senior coming into her final season after notching a NCAA 'B' cut at the 2018 Big 12 Championships and having been elected as one-of-three captains for 2018-19.

At the beginning of the season, Ruegemer did not know if she was going to be able to finish her swimming career. Ruegemer fell to the ground during offseason training, and immediately knew that something was not right with her knee.

"I knew something was wrong when I fell," Ruegemer said. "The worst things came to mind. I talked to the athletic trainer and had to figure out what was wrong. I had to take it one day at a time to see what I could do every day to make it better and make the recovery process go faster. You have deal with the cards you're dealt and try to make the most of it."

In practices, Ruegemer had to rely more on her upper body rather than her legs to avoid reinjuring her knee. Having spent a significant amount of time synchronized swimming, she was also hindered with wrist issues throughout her Iowa State career.

"She's had to overcome a tremendous amount of pain and had to work really hard at it," head coach Duane Sorenson said. "She spent the fall basically pulling every practice and was very restricted at what she could do. We had to be careful to not overuse her shoulders. She was very sore, but in the long run I think it really helped her in the distance freestyle races."

The start of her senior season progressed slowly, as Ruegemer did not compete in the first three meets of the season, and then swam exhibition heats until the dual meet against TCU and SMU. After spending the first-half of her senior year trying to minimize the pain and get the most out of practices, everything came together in her final Cy-Hawk dual meet. She posted the second-fastest 1000 free time in school history at 10:02.20 and earned runner-up finishes in three events.

"I think I went out there and raced," Ruegemer said. "I think it showed, even though I was doing a modified workout in the fall, it was helping and I was setting myself up for the season."

Throughout her senior season, she scored 179 individual event points, which is in Iowa State's top-20 among seniors. She also exits in sixth with 129 points scored at Big 12 Championship meets throughout her career, including All-Big 12 performances in the 400 IM and 1650 freestyle at her final conference meet.

"We're a team. We all have a part to play on the team," Ruegemer said. "I didn't want to let this injury stop me from playing my part. We're all here for each other. We never want to let each other down."

Players Mentioned

Haley Ruegemer

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics