Anchor of the Tribe: Caroline Burgeson Leads Swimming’s Push for CAA Crown

To win a swimming championship takes a real staff effort. It’s a four-day grind consisting of 36 particular person and relay occasions in a moist cauldron of noise.

However, if William & Mary girls’s swimming is to seize the CAA crown this yr, there is not any doubt that Caroline Burgeson will play a number one function.

Burgeson is the Tribe’s relay anchor. A four-time convention champion in relay occasions and one of many quickest dash freestylers within the league, the senior is the important thing piece to William & Mary’s bid to win the CAA girls’s swimming championship for the primary time since 2022.

“For me, I’m kind’ve buzzing with a lot more adrenaline when I have relays,” Burgeson stated. “It’s so much fun for me now, and our relays have been performing so great. I couldn’t ask for a better team to go into my last CAA’s with.”

Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Burgeson has come a good distance since stepping onto campus within the fall of 2022.

During her recruitment course of, she narrowed down her listing to 3 colleges: Boston College, Georgetown, and William & Mary. Though the services at different colleges had been spectacular, the staff tradition at W&M proved to be the separating issue.



“When I came here, I was overwhelmed with positivity,” Burgeson stated. “This is clearly a place where people build each other up and want to be part of the process. I feel like that’s something that everyone else who has committed here has felt.”

But the adjustment to collegiate swimming was troublesome. Though Burgeson helped the 400 freestyle relay staff to a podium end on the CAA Championships as a freshman, she fell far wanting qualifying for finals in each particular person freestyle occasions, together with the 200 free relay.

“I think freshman year was one of my toughest years,” Burgeson recalled. “I didn’t really have a mindset of how to approach racing and dual meets. Just how long the season can be and how mentally taxing it can be — I knew it was gonna be tough physically, but I don’t think I was prepared for mentally tough it was going to be as well.”

Over the following two years, Burgeson labored on bettering her mindset. The Arlington, Va., native credit assistant coach Mike Williams with serving to her overcome these psychological battles. When she reached a tough level in observe, she needed to discover the energy to not again off however to push herself “past the point of toughness.”

As Tribe head coach Nate Kellogg says: get comfy being uncomfortable.

Since then, Burgeson has blossomed. As a sophomore in 2024, she anchored the first-place 400 medley relay on the CAA Championships earlier than successful three gold medals within the 200 medley, 200 free, and 400 free relays final yr. The 200 free relay time of 1:38.48 was a college, meet, and convention report.

“I love relays,” she stated. “I’ve always been a relay swimmer, since before I can remember. That’s been something I’ve been lucky enough to do since I’m a sprinter.”

Gamer Mindset

The anchor of the relay — the one who goes final — is usually the quickest and will need to have the psychological fortitude to shut a spot if her staff is trailing when the stress is at its highest. That’s the place Burgeson’s skillset is so invaluable: not solely does she possess elite top-end pace, however her killer mindset permits her to be unfazed within the face of a deficit.

The coaches name her a “gamer.”

“I always go faster on relays. It’s because I know I can’t let these three other girls down. These three girls have put in so much work, so I can’t let them down. It motivates me.”

The group has varied psychological tips to remain locked in: a hype-up speech, a hand-swirl, or compartmentalizing the distances to make them appear shorter. Burgeson is buzzing with adrenaline on meet days, however she’s discovered to smile slightly bit.

“I’ve always been laughing and smiling before relays,” Burgeson stated. “It’s so much fun for me now, and our relays have been performing so great.”

“We tell all the underclassmen before their first dual meets, if they’re ever scared, to look at the sideline, because there’s 40-plus people cheering. You’re not alone, you’re doing it with 40 other people. You’re not swimming the race, we’re all swimming the race.”

But it takes 4 to make a relay. Burgeson has a detailed rapport with classmates Lauren Klinefelter and Lindsay Juhlin, together with junior Julie Addison, who collectively represent the 200 medley relay that ranks second within the CAA.

“I’m definitely super close with those three. There’s been times where we haven’t practiced a relay start before a meet,” Burgeson stated. “[At Davidson], we didn’t practice a single relay start. I was like, ‘Oh Mike, should we run through this one?’ And he’s like, ‘If there are any people [who] I’m least concerned about their chemistry, it’s you four. You guys are gonna be just fine.'”

Burgeson, Klinefelter, and Juhlin are a part of a senior class that has left a noticeable mark on this system. Juhlin is a two-time CAA Champion; fellow senior Sophia Heilen is a five-time champion and 2023 CAA Rookie of the Year.

“Our confidence levels as a class are really high,” Burgeson stated. “Something that we began to do really well especially as we became upperclassmen was walking around the pool deck kind’ve like we owned it: hands on our hips, chest out, chins up. Not in a cocky way, but in a way that we were confident in ourselves.”

As a testomony to this system’s tradition below Kellogg, 9 of the ten girls on this yr’s senior class who got here in as freshman in 2022 are nonetheless with the staff. Over the final 4 years, this system has a 95% retention charge for underclassmen.

“Swimming can be an individual sport if you let it,” Burgeson stated. “What’s unique about our team is that we don’t let it be individual. We look at the side of the pooldeck knowing that we’re doing this. You’re never isolated or racing by yourself.”

Bringing the Energy

William & Mary swimming meets are a raucous endeavor. It’s not simply due to the acoustics within the tightly-packed Bee McLeod Rec Center, however as a result of the Tribe has made it some extent of satisfaction to at all times be the loudest staff on the pool deck. W&M swimmers won’t ever be seen lounging round or scrolling on their telephones. Every teammate stands and cheers loudly from begin to end.

“We’re incredibly loud,” Burgeson famous. “I’ve had parents come to my meets over the years and just be blown away by the level of energy at the swim meet. We’re cheering the loudest at every meet and that’s not a question.”

The girls’s staff has its sights set on successful the CAA this season. Because W&M doesn’t have a diving program, the swimmers should accumulate much more factors than would in any other case be essential to win. Despite the built-in drawback, Burgeson continues to be assured in her group.

“My confidence in this team is pretty unmatched. I definitely think we’re the best swim team in the CAA. Even without diving … I think we can out-swim other teams.”

The pitch for followers to come back to meets is straightforward: they’re going to placed on a present. In each lane, throughout all 36 occasions on the CAA Championships in February, it’s assured that the Green & Gold will voice probably the most boisterous cheering part.

“We spend a lot of time cheering for each other. We always have a good time.”

“And we’re fast.”