The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY/JUNE 2021 ■ 25 Yet ironically, Hansson won the 200 by a wider margin than the 100. She did not have much time to celebrate. Soon after the NCAA Championships, she was off to Sweden to try to qualify for the Olympics, which she did in April by setting a Swedish national record in the 100-meter breaststroke. "I was there in 2016, but that time I got a wild card, and this time I made it on my own individually and it felt amazing," Hans- son confirmed. Meeting High Expectations In the class of 2019 rankings, SwimSwam. com had Berkoff — a native of Missoula, Mont. — rated the No. 3 swimmer nationally. "She was recruited by every school in the country," Holloway recalled. "She could have gone to Stanford and all the big names, but decided to come here and help us get some- thing done we've never done." She is the daughter of two-time Olympian David Berkoff, who won relay gold in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, and in 1992 in Barce- lona, Spain, while taking silver and bronze, respectively, at those two games in the 100 backstroke. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Her older brother Cale Berkoff swam com- petitively at the University of Minnesota, also in the backstroke. It was as a child that a young Berkoff saw her brother in practice and dreamed of swimming across the pool. "That was my goal," Berkoff recalled. "It just looked awesome." Perhaps it was genetically predisposed that Berkoff would end up an elite back- stroke swimmer. She knew pre-high school she might have a chance to go far in the sport. The challenge was finding the right college. "I talked to schools all over the country," Berkoff remembered. "I just clicked really well with Braden and the rest of the coach- ing staff, and then when I came here I loved the team. It was a perfect fit." Berkoff won the ACC title as a freshman in the 100 backstroke, but like Hansson did not get a chance to prove what she could do with a full taper at the NCAA Championships. "It was really devastating," Berkoff said. "We didn't even rest for ACCs last year. We just put everything into NCAAs. We never got a chance to see the work we had put on. "I was really sad, and I know all my other teammates were, too. I think that was an extra motivation this year to make us want it even more." Thus her goal this year was real sim- ple: win that national title. Her time in the prelims was 50.16 seconds, matching Ala- bama junior Rhyan White for the best mark. Berkoff knew that if she could keep up with White in the first 50, she could outswim her to the finish. Whereas Hansson prefers to keep tunnel vision on her race for fear of losing valuable hundredths of a second looking around, Berkoff has the benefit of an underwater flip and turn that allows her to see where she is in the race. Halfway through the finals of the 100 backstroke, a race literally minutes after Hansson stepped off the medal stand for her national title in the 100 breaststroke, Berkoff was just 0.08 seconds behind White. Berkoff would pull away during the last half and end up winning by almost a half-second with a pool-record time of 49.74 seconds. She called the win "a sigh of relief." "Glad that I did it, because breaking 50 [seconds] has also been a goal of mine for a long time now," she added. "So I was so happy to finally do it." Berkoff's next goal is to join Hansson in the Olympics. The U.S. trials are June 13-20 in Omaha, Neb. Fortunately, Berkoff has a pretty good source for guidance in her father. "Times have definitely changed a lot," Berkoff noted. "They treat the athletes a little better now. He has lots of cool stories. It sounds like it was really fun, but also re- ally nerve-wracking. You get to experience a lot of cultures, which is really cool. "He said [the Olympics] were not as nerve-wracking as Olympic trials because Olympic trials are to make it to the Olym- pics. Once you are at the Olympics, you've made it, so at least you've gotten that out of the way." Between now and then, Berkoff is mak- ing sure to create space on a crowded trophy shelf for her new NCAA hardware. "I am definitely saving them, because I think they are pretty awesome," Berkoff said. "It's fun to look at them and get a little reminder." ■ Sophomore Katharine Berkoff contributed to two NCAA title-winning relay squads and also won gold in the 100 backstroke with an ACC-record time (49.74 seconds). PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS