Inside the Journey of Paige Madden: From High of NCAA Title to Low of Having COVID-19 to High of Making Olympic Team

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Paige Madden. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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Inside the Journey of Paige Madden: From High of NCAA Title to Low of Having COVID-19 to High of Making Olympic Team

Paige Madden soaked in the moment — the medal, the meaning, the thunderous ovation from the Omaha crowd at the U.S. Olympic trials. She also reflected on the stunning turn of events in the past for months that saw her at the highest and lowest points of her career, only to somehow pick up the pieces and return to the highest.

Madden’s stunning 2021 couldn’t have started much better. She was swimming well and went into the NCAA championships with something to prove.

Madden proved it — emphatically.

After not getting to showcase her progress in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Madden took out her frustrations on the 2021 NCAA Championships, winning the 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events — the only woman to claim three individual victories at the meet — leading Virginia to its first NCAA title.

It was the pinnacle of Madden’s career.

It only took a couple of weeks for everything to come crashing down.

A NEW BATTLE

As Paige Madden turned her focus to long-course training and the Olympic Trials, she tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. While many people are asymptomatic, Madden felt the wrath of COVID-19 as the virus attacked the airflow of an already asthmatic athlete.

“When it first happened, I was just devastated. I immediately told myself that I was done. Everything was out the window. There was no way I could make the Olympic team, and I don’t even know if I will go to Trials now. It was dramatic,” Madden said. “It was the respiratory issues, mainly just breathing. I already had asthma before that, and having chest pain. My lungs are my most important organ as a swimmer, and the fact that they were not working as well as they were before was really frustrating. I didn’t feel great in the water. We were doing stroke counts and usually I am able to hit around 29 strokes and I was doing 37. I could go fast times, but I was trying really hard and my heart rate was just through the roof — way too high.”

The doubts quickly and understandably began to creep in. While the virus was attacking Madden’s physical well-being, it also was attacking her mental state, adding a layer of questions, doubts and pressure.

“If anybody could get COVID and still be very successful after that, it was going to be Paige. All of our athletes work very hard, but Paige more than anybody. We weren’t that concerned about her missing a couple of weeks. She has put in so much hard work the last four years that was going to carry her through,” Virginia coach Todd DeSorbo said. “Paige has had injuries in the past. Sometimes, those small bumps in the road can provide a sense of urgency heading into a big meet and Paige probably had the best three weeks of training in her life right before Olympic Trials because of that.

“I would have been surprised had Paige not made the U.S. Olympic team because of who she is and the work she has put in. It is every minute of every single practice every single day. She is focused on whatever goal she has. She is going to go to PA school down the line, and I think she will be the best PA in the world.”

Katie Ledecky and Paige Madden. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Madden took that work ethic into her mental game. The first, and biggest step, for Madden was to alter that mindset.

“I had to settle down and get my headspace right. I put in all the work, and this was just another bump in the road,” Madden said. “I tore my meniscus right before World University Games in 2019 and that gave me the most confidence that I could overcome this. I came back from that and swam pretty decently. I was mainly worried about the lingering affects.”

Her head cleared, Madden started to slowly overcome the physical toll of the virus.

“It probably took a few weeks for me to start feeling like I was getting back into shape. It wasn’t until I got the second dose that I started to feel a lot better,” she said. “Right before we left for Indy, I felt much better and having good performances in Indy gave me a lot of confidence going into Trials.”

A lot of confidence.

ROAD TO RECOVERY … AND TOKYO

Paige Madden was focused on the 200 freestyle heading into the Olympic Trials. She was aiming to make the top two and swim the event individually at the Olympics, but also could take solace that as a relay event, the top four automatically made it, with two more alternates possible.

But first, she would swim the 400 freestyle. After battling COVID-19, Madden didn’t expect much out of herself in the event. Her lung capacity was still not at 100 percent and she was using the 400 basically to have a race under her belt before the 200.

Madden stunned herself and the Omaha crowd by taking second in the 400 free behind Katie Ledecky, to earn a spot on the team despite lingering chest pain stemming from COVID-19.

“I wasn’t really anticipating doing that well in the 400. I wasn’t expecting to make the team. I knew I had an outside shot. I almost even didn’t swim that event because I had the 200 the next day, and I had had COVID, so I felt like my aerobic training wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be.

So I took the 400 as an event to dip my toe in the water and get my feel for the atmosphere. I think that helped me a lot and didn’t put any pressure on myself,” Madden said. “Making the team was a really great surprise. That then took more pressure off for the 200.”

And it showed. Madden finished third in the 200 free behind Ledecky and Allison Schmitt, earning a spot on the 4×200 free relay.

“I race a lot of those girls throughout the course of my career. That was my fifth heat with Katie Ledecky. I have raced Allison Schmitt a lot, and I actually look up to her for a long time. Katie McLaughlin, I spent a lot of time with her last summer,” Madden said. “It is definitely interesting. They are my friends, but I have always competed against them. Now we transition on being on a relay together. Allison Schmitt did a really good job. She brought us together and told us that our relay was going to be really good. That was really special that she helped us through that quick turnaround. We are Team USA and it is all about the relay.”

Allison Schmitt, Paige Madden and Katie McLaughlin. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

And the Trials were all about Virginia as well. In addition to Madden, Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass made the team in the 200 IM, while incoming freshman Emma Weyant qualified in the 400 IM and post-grad training partner Catie DeLoof made the 4×100 free relay.

Watching her teammates was a welcome distraction for Madden, but she also couldn’t invest too much energy in their races since the virus had given her a bit of an energy shortage.

“I had to manage my own energy and emotions. I was so excited (for my teammates) but I couldn’t spend a lot of physical energy on that. But it made me happy when Emma made it got me excited for my race the next day. Making it on the second day definitely took a lot of pressure off,” Madden said. “Seeing Kate and Alex and Catie DeLoof make it was awesome, and I was almost done swimming at that point, so I could give more of that energy toward them. That was a lot of fun. I was fortunate that I didn’t have a lot of lows at that meet.”

It was just the highs — the highs that DeSorbo predicted for Madden during her freshman season at Virginia.

THE PREDICTIONS

“I don’t say that to everybody. I don’t want to fluff people up too much. We wanted them to know we have confidence in them and what it takes to make an Olympic team,” DeSorbo said. “You could see right away in Paige that she had all of those things and was very talented. It was pretty clear that she was going to do some special things.”

It took Madden a while to believe it, but having DeSorbo’s confidence started that train of thought.

“That was a special moment for me,” Paige Madden said. “When Todd said it, he said it with such intent that it really struck with me. … he also said it about the 200 freestyle, not the 400, so I might have to give him a hard time about that, but I also didn’t see that potential in myself.”

Others haven’t seen that potential, even heading into this stunning 2021 season. Few predicted she would win all three of her events at NCAAs and make the Olympic team in two events.

“I see predictions like that and I love it. Whether people think I can or can’t do it, it fires me up. If they think I can’t do it, I want to prove them wrong, and if they think I can, it is a confidence booster,” Paige Madden said. “I really think it was because I didn’t get to show my cards in 2020. I knew I had a lot left in the tank. I really just wanted to prove that. My training gives me the utmost confidence. I get better every year and that gave me a lot of confidence.”

It is confidence that has rubbed off on her teammates during this spectacular year for Virginia.

“Paige is literally my hero,” Walsh said. “I knew she was fast but I had no idea how hard she works until my first week. My coaches had me look up to her and take her mentality. She has been someone who I have really strived to be like. She has been such a great inspiration for me.”

It was inspiring when Madden won three NCAA titles. It was inspiring how she fought back from COVID-19 to make the Olympic team. Now that inspiration will look for more ways to emerge in Tokyo.

And if anyone still doubts Paige Madden … it might just motivate her to the medal podium.

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