When Mackenzie Looze Learned She Would Make Team USA Debut

Mackeznie Looze -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

When Mackenzie Looze Learned She Would Make Team USA Debut

Being around elite swimming is nothing new for Mackenzie Looze. The daughter of Indiana University coach Ray Looze, the 22-year-old who goes by “Mack” is accustomed to training alongside NCAA champions and professionals, and her results from this season have edged her closer to that elite territory. Looze qualified for finals in both breaststroke and both individual medley events at the U.S. International Team Trials in April, and now she is a national champion.

In the 200 breast final Wednesday evening in Irvine, Calif., Looze surged ahead of early leader Anna Keating to win in 2:25.25, her best time by two seconds. Yes, the field was missing the three top Americans in the 200 breast this year, including Looze’s Indiana teammates Lilly King and Annie Lazor, but the moment was no less rewarding.

“I don’t think I’ve processed it yet, if I’m being honest,” Looze said after the race. “I sort of just feel really weird. Everyone is really excited from my team, which makes me feel really special, just seeing that they’re proud of me.”

But before her Wednesday evening victory, Looze had already received an invitation for the most meaningful opportunity of her swimming career. She was tapped to represent the United States at next month’s Duel in the Pool in Sydney, Australia. It had not occurred to Looze that the Duel was a possibility for her, but the impressive Trials results, which topped out with a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM, put her in line when a handful of swimmers declined spots.

“I think my dad’s first international team trip when he was a swimmer was Australia, so to have that parallel to him is super special, and I’m excited to go on it with a lot of people that I’m friends with, like Gabi Albiero and Beata Nelson, just to name a few people. Annie, too. I get to experience it with people I’m already friends with,” Looze said.

She noted that Albiero will also be making her first senior-level international team trip, meaning the daughters of two successful American coaches will have that experience together four years after their fathers were the two head coaches of the U.S. team at the Pan Pacific Championships, with Ray Looze leading the men’s squad and Albiero’s father, Louisville coach Arthur Albiero, leading the women’s team.

A beaming Looze recalled the moment when she the Australian trip became a reality.

“I walked out of the weight room, and I’m getting a million calls from my parents, and I’m like, ‘What did I do? What’s going on here?’” Looze said. “And all the sudden, I’m sobbing in my car, just so insanely shocked that I get this opportunity to represent the USA for the very first time.”

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