Club swimming sends first competitor to nationals

Hanna together with her swim cap. Courtesy | Makayla Hanna

Senior Makayla Hanna swam a university private finest time of 1:12.30 within the girls’s 100 breaststroke and competed in three different races on the 2026 Collegiate Club Swimming National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, April 10-12. 

Out of roughly 1,600 different swimmers at nationals, Hanna was the one Hillsdale pupil. She certified for and competed within the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke with a time of two:41.76, 100 particular person medley with a time of 1:07.10, and 50 breaststroke with a time of 33.74.

“I raced a lot in three days — Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” Hanna mentioned. “I raced the 200 breaststroke and the 100 individual medley on Saturday, back to back. It was kind of wild. They were five minutes apart. It was a super quick turnaround.”

Hanna, vice chairman of membership swimming, certified for nationals within the 2024-2025 season however mentioned that she was unable to compete attributable to an absence of house within the area. 

“I unfortunately didn’t get to go last year, which was really devastating,” Hanna mentioned. “I really worked for that.” 

Thanks to encouragement from her mentors, Hanna mentioned she determined to swim yet another season. 

Hanna mentioned she has been swimming competitively since she was 7 years previous. When she arrived at Hillsdale, she started focusing solely on orchestra, although she continued swimming on her personal.

“Orchestra and swimming were both good for their times,” Hanna mentioned. “I think it was nice to have a break from swimming and it was nice to do orchestra. I learned a lot doing that.”

When Hanna was a sophomore, 4 freshmen — Finn Fleischer, Dylan Glover, Nick Rutkoski, and Hayden Stolzenberg — based Hillsdale’s swim membership, and Hanna joined.

“It had been two years since I competed, so it was kind of surreal to go back to that,” Hanna mentioned. “The longest break I had from competing was a few months, ever.”

Ryan Perkins, director of campus recreation and membership sports activities, helped coordinate the main points of Hanna’s journey to Greensboro. He mentioned Hanna’s efficiency represents Hillsdale’s excessive stage of intercollegiate competitors. 

“Makayla has been one of the strongest competitors on the club swim team since she helped start the club two years ago,” Perkins mentioned. “Her leadership and motivation have been key to establishing swimming as a club sport here at Hillsdale.”

Carly Boerema, home director of Sohn, mentioned she had by no means seen Hanna swim earlier than she went as a chaperone on the journey.

“I was so impressed with her ability to compete with some of the best college swimmers in the nation,” Boerema mentioned. “She has worked so hard to get here and has shown such determination and commitment. After the disappointment of missing last year’s nationals despite her qualifying, supporting Makayla in this opportunity was a joy.”

Reflecting on her expertise at Hillsdale, Hanna mentioned she was grateful for her distinctive journey to membership swim nationals.

“It’s been a really long time coming,” Hanna mentioned. “I didn’t necessarily swim as fast as I did in high school, but I also have very different circumstances now. I’m running around doing lots of different things, and I basically coached myself for these two years.”