In February, Maggie Waddington broke the school records in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke to finish her junior season. Having previously focused on the freestyle, Waddington evolved into a diverse swimmer after Kyle Trelka was hired as the swimming coach.
“I did do (the) 100 backstroke at mid-season sophomore year as well, and it was like a pretty good time for not swimming it, really ever,” Waddington said. “I time-trialed it at conference and I actually broke the school record. So, from that moment on, I was kind of doomed to do backstroke as well.”
However, if it weren’t for her father scheduling an appointment with former coach Becky O’Connell, Waddington would not be swimming collegiately, much less for UNK.
“I basically decided to come here and try it out because I figured if I didn’t like it, I could just try it out,” Waddington said. “It’s better to try it and then decide it’s not for me than to live with the regret of not doing it the rest of my life.”
A late start was only half of the journey for Waddington, as she navigated some rough patches with her first two coaches at UNK.
“Coming here, I knew I wasn’t going to like my coach,” Waddington said when referencing O’Connell. “I knew that we probably weren’t going to get along very well.”
“A lot of times, I would come in and there wouldn’t be a set,” Waddington said. “(O’Connell) would just say, do what you need to do, and that’s not really how it works. Or she would ask my teammates to write sets, and I’m like, that’s not how that works.”
O’Connell retired in the fall of 2023, and the team had an interim head coach until Trelka arrived in January of 2024. Before Trelka got to Kearney, the team would do training sets that he sent over.
“(Trelka) would send us the workouts and stuff, and Marc Bauer would have to come and open the pool for us,” Waddington said. So, he’d come and supervise, and we do coach’s sets. I’d be like cursing (Trelka) out, and he isn’t even there. I didn’t even really know him until basically, after winter break, when he came.”
Waddington never gave up and stayed on course until Trelka arrived.
“I always hoped for a more competitive environment, for like a catalyst for better times, for more improvement,” Waddington said. “So, when they brought Kyle in, that kind of changed everything for me. My prayers had literally been answered; I’d been asking for that for two years.”
Waddington grew up in Norfolk, participating in a wide range of activities, from dance to gymnastics. However, volleyball was her main sport until her brother, Cameron, qualified for the state swimming championships.
“It kind of wasn’t until my brother went to state swimming, and I went and watched him, that I decided I want to be down there (swimming),” Waddington said. “I want to be doing that. I want people to watch me, you know, win. I want to be down there doing what he’s doing.”
Waddington would go on to qualify for the Nebraska State Swimming Championships multiple times for Norfolk High School.
Trelka said Waddington’s story is one of an underdog, considering her late start.
“They say it takes 10,000 hours to master anything,” Trelka said. “There’s a big factor in that for swimming; a lot of people just don’t have that time. And so, it is a pretty rare athlete who can get into college and to really exceed, that hasn’t started, you know, when they’re 8, 9, 10. For (Waddington) to start in seventh grade, I mean, that just goes to show how much of an athlete she is, but also how she’s really become passionate about the sport as well.”
Waddington gives a lot of credit to Trelka for how fast the program has changed in one year.
“I think that with Kyle, it’s been an immediate like 180 (degrees) since he’s gotten here,” Waddington said. “Immediate increase, like drops in times. Changes in team attitude. Everything has been so immediate.”
Now, with the school record in all her events but the 100 and 200 freestyle, her goal is not just to break those records, but to become the second UNK swimmer to qualify for nationals. According to UNK Athletics, Yohara Salinas, in the early 1990s, is the only national qualifier on record.
“That would be a really big deal,” Waddington said. “That would be my final check to mark off all my boxes pretty much.”
As her senior season continues, Waddington said she is grateful for how far she has come in her career.
“In high school, I was always on one of the top scorers or whatever, but I wasn’t really kind of recognized,” Waddington said. “(I) didn’t get much recognition for that, although they probably loved me dearly; I just didn’t really feel the love that much. It’s definitely a good change of pace to finally be recognized for my hard work.”
