Autumn Haebig made a name for herself by breaking WIAA records in the pool. Her hard work resulted in a scholarship to Nebraska, where she is still in the water, and looking forward to her 5th year of eligibility after COVID-19 derailed her Junior Year.
"I had qualified for the NCAA, and it was a week before the meet when they got canceled. So I went back home to Wisconsin and I didn't have a pool to train in right away. But luckily my parents have a hot tub in our backyard, so I was back there kicking," says Autumn.
Not knowing how long quarantine would last, Autumn spent the start of her senior year taking classes online and swimming wherever she could.
"We were at Schroeder YMCA in Brown Deer and then we slowly got back into Homestead High School which is where OZ normally practices in the summer," says Autumn.
Near the end of 2020, Autumn and her Nebraska teammates were able to return to training on campus.
"At that point, we were training every day, at least once a day but we had very strict protocols. We have an app every morning that we have to fill out of what symptoms we have if we had been in contact with anyone. We were tested every other day," says Autumn.
However, it wouldn't be until 2021, that actual meets took place.
"At meets, everything was so much bigger and everyone was cheering louder because you only had so many opportunities to swim in races this year," says Autumn.
That said, it was enough for Autumn to take home a Big Ten Championship in the 200 Freestyle.
"I'm proud, like even our team at Big Ten's that's the highest we've ever scored. So it's just been a great year of accomplishments for us," says Autumn.
Recently competing at nationals, Autumn will have one more season to add to Nebraska's record books. In between then and now, it's all about the Olympic Trials.
"I'm qualified for wave one, which is the first week of trails, so I'm hoping that within that wave if you make top two in your event, you can move on to wave 2. So I'm hoping to be in one of those top two spots to make it to the next wave and then swim my best. I haven't swum long course in such a long time now, so hopefully, I'm going to improve by a lot," says Autumn.
Just another challenge we look forward to watching this Wisconsinite conquer.
