The NCAA didn’t create the concept of the Division II athletics festival for track & field, swimming & diving, and wrestling because of Bryn Greenwaldt. But Bryn Greenwaldt is perhaps uniquely-equipped to take advantage of the concept, with all three championships being hosted in the same city on the same weekend.
Greenwaldt of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will compete in not one, but two NCAA Championship meets next weekend. At the swimming & diving championships at the IU Natatorium, she will compete as the #2 seed in the 50 free and 100 back and the #21 seed in the 100 free.
But on Saturday, she will also compete about 5 miles to the north at the Indiana State Fairgrounds at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships, where she is qualified as the 16th seed out of 18 competitors with a jump of 1.73m (5 feet, 8 inches).
The 100 free is on Saturday, which is the same day as the women’s high jump. High jump is scheduled to begin at 3:55 Eastern Time, which puts it squarely in between prelims and finals of the swim meet.
Augustana is also qualified to swim four relays, including the 400 free relay on Saturday.
That could wind up being a very busy day for Greenwaldt.
“I’m going to attempt to do both,” Greenwaldt told SwimSwam, “but it might get a little choppy.”
After swimming in prelims of the 100 free, Greenwaldt says she will bring her swimming gear to the high jump competition, with warmups beginning about two hours before the 3:55 kickoff.
“Assuming I jump through until the end (which would be the hope), I will have a cut off time where I am going to have to run back to swimming, Greenwaldt told SwimSwam. “The 100 free finals should be starting around 6:15, so I would either change at the track and book it to the pool or if I have enough time just change at the pool to ensure I will make my race.”
Greenwaldt competed in track & field in each of the last two seasons as well. She was the indoor NSIC conference champion last season with a jump of 1.74m, and she competed at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships that are held annually in May.
The addition of the indoor championships this season will create a new challenge for Greenwaldt.
“Mentally I haven’t really processed it yet,” Greenwaldt said of the unique double. “This has been years in the making, with my track coach, Greg Binstock, sitting me down my freshman year and telling me that this is what we are ultimately working for.
“At that point, I thought he was crazy, and almost laughed it off.
“Last year was a huge step, though. We gained another coach, Bree Makepeace, who, along with coach Greg (Binstock), helped me jump high enough to make outdoor nationals. Hitting that when I wasn’t even thinking that was a possibility really jump-started this goal again for me.”
Greenwaldt says that both programs work together to make the schedule match. In the past, she participated in swim practice from September through March and does a weekly high jump practice before transitioning her full focus to outdoor track after the swimming season ended.
This year, though, she says she switched to jumping twice a week, which she said “got pretty overwhelming” but “ultimately was a fun challenge.”
“I have a lot of swimming I’m hoping to do before I get to Saturday, and I do better when I think one day at a time, so I have yet to fully process it, but I am just excited at this point. I love jumping, I’m gonna love the running around, I love a challenge, and I’m ready for this in every way.”
A junior by eligibility, last year Greenwaldt was also named a CSC Academic All-American with a 3.85 GPA while majoring in accounting. She was a 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, the first in program history, and has eight NCAA All-America honors in swimming and diving. That includes runner-up finishes in both the 50 and 100 free at last year’s NCAA Division II Championship meet.
Greenwaldt By The Numbers
- 50 free PB – 22.09
- 100 free PB – 49.57
- 100 back PB – 52.58
- 200 back PB – 1:59.93
- 8x NSIC individual Swimming Champion
- 2024 NCAA runner-up, 50 & 100 freestyle
- 2024 NSIC indoor champion – high jump
wow
Imagine if Dressel had done this.
Knowing his hops, my boy woulda broken the high jump NCAA record by like 7 inches after going 17.6 in the 50. Homie could have had 6 NCAA records in one season instead of 5 smh
This is awesome. Though obviously not in the same day, her skill set reminds me of Laura Barito, who was 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year. Competing for D3 Stevens Tech, she won the 50 free and then the 400 meter hurdles, so she was an individual national champ in 2 sports.
I also remember when Deion Sanders took a helicopter to play both NFL and MLB in the same day. Great story I wish her luck! Kudos to everyone involved who said, “yeah, we can make this happen!” too often people say no.
20 minutes minimum from the Nat to the State Fairgrounds … according to google maps. Good luck!
I agree! – there were plenty of schools that wouldn’t even let her compete in another sport. Augie has embraced it with all the coaches working to help her make it happen.
She’s been so fun to cheer on over her years at Augie! I’m so glad that we were in the same conference and Augie gave her the opportunity. She sure embraces “it’s your time to shine!”
This is wonderful. I’ve heard of such things in high school but not college, though I’m sure over time it has happened.
Good luck, Bryn!!
triathlon next!!
Swim . . . bike . . . high jump!
Wow. For those of us old enough to rmember “Bo Knows..” they should make a t-shirt saying “Bryn Knows…”
Crazy talent.
Love this story!!!
Are there a lot of athletes that compete in two (or more) different sports that are not team sports?
In high school, yes, but in college – this is quite astounding. I think that Cross Country and Outdoor Track lend themselves well to swimming as part of training, but a high jumper/swimmer cross is very unique! I’ve seen soccer/swim and basketball/track, football/track. Congratulations to Bryn.