Bryn Greenwaldt exceeds what it means to be a student-athlete. The two-sport athlete, a swimmer and high jumper, with dual majors at Augustana (South Dakota) shows that she can do it all — and then some.
"I'm a huge supporter of cross-training," she said. "When I was in high school, my parents were big CrossFit athletes, so if I wasn't doing swimming or track, I was doing CrossFit."
The Foley, Minnesota, native noticed that playing multiple sports did not hinder her athletically. In fact, it helped her excel.
"For me, I found that if I'm a stronger swimmer, I'm a stronger jumper," she said "I love swimming, but track is such a big, fun part of my life. I don't think I would be sane if I just did swimming. I need to have both in my life."
Greenwaldt celebrates after winning the 50-yard freestyle March 12 during the Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the IU Natatorium at Indiana University Indianapolis. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow / NCAA Photos)
When Greenwaldt was looking at colleges, coaches would chuckle or appear uncomfortable when she said she wanted to compete in swimming and track and field. Yet when she toured Augustana's campus, the swim coach responded without hesitation: "Let's go meet the track coach right now."
Greenwaldt committed to Augustana, a Division II university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Greenwaldt's coaches have stayed consistent in their answers to her ambition: We'll make it work.
And oh, has she made it work. Greenwaldt does not just play two sports. She dominates in both.
Last summer, she competed in the Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. This month, she headed back to Indianapolis for the Division II National Championships Festival, where she qualified and competed in swimming events and the high jump, shuttling back and forth from the pool to the track more than 5 miles away.
Greenwaldt became the first national champion in program history after winning the 50-yard freestyle at the Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, setting the NCAA Division II record in the process. She also earned first-team All-America honors for her performance in the high jump at the Division II Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships before quickly returning to the pool to earn first-team All-America honors in the 100-yard freestyle.
"I never thought I would be able to accomplish any of what I have. I'm here in both sports individually. … I never thought any of this was possible," she said.
Yet Greg Binstock, who coaches Greenwaldt in track and field, has always seen her possibilities as endless. During Greenwaldt's freshman year, Binstock told her to mark her calendar for her junior year, the year of the Division II winter festival.
Binstock said, "Bryn, you've got the talent, and you can do this. I think it would be an amazing story and an amazing goal to be here competing at two different sports at the DII national festival.
"She just is a fierce competitor," Binstock added. "It's fun to see that switch turn when she gets to those meets."
Augustana swim coach Andrew Makepeace seconds that sentiment.
"To be able to be a dual-sport athlete and be so successful … you see a lot of growth in and how that correlates to what she's accomplished," Makepeace said.
"This is her journey, and it's what she wants to do, and to see her be so successful and to see the joy she has with it, that's all that really matters."
Greenwaldt credits Binstock and Makepeace, among others, as pivotal in her development.
"(They) helped me to grow in both sports, as well as a person, learning the balance and figuring out how to push through when it gets hard. I just feel the coaches have been the main source of how I'm able to do this. Without them, I would not be able to handle it at all."
Although Greenwaldt juggles various pursuits, she has found a balanced life as a Division II student-athlete.
"In DII, I have found it so manageable to do two sports," she said. "I'm always practicing, traveling, doing my sport (and) I love it, but I have found a very good balance here with my relationships in school and sports that I really, really love."
"DII has allowed a good platform for finding the balance," Greenwaldt said. (Photo courtesy of Bryn Greenwaldt)
On top of being a two-sport athlete in Division II, Greenwaldt has stuck with the theme of twos in academics, as well — tackling two majors, accounting and business.
Doing it all has empowered Greenwaldt in her daily life, too. She hopes people see her as someone who has a strong work ethic and wears her heart on her sleeve.
"Being a student-athlete makes me very confident in a lot of different ways. Not even relating to sports, I love walking in the class and knowing how much I have to balance and that I still get it all done. Even just looking at my grades, I'm like, 'Wow, I'm able to do this, and I have a million other things going on at all times.'
"Going to bed at night, I always feel very accomplished."
