For former Jordan-Matthews swimmer Jennah Fadely, having the opportunity to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team would go as well as her mind wanted it to.
A long-time aspiration came true for Fadely last week as she competed in the U.S. Olympic swim trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Fadely swam in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke preliminaries and finished in 19th place with a time of 1 minute and 9.10 seconds which was two spots short of qualifying for the semifinals.
Although she didn’t make the Olympic roster, Fadely, going into senior year at Kenyon College, found the trials to be “a really cool experience.”
“I’ve been wanting to go to the Olympic trials, like I’ve had my sights set on it for a long time,” Fadely said. “Leading up to it, I spent a lot of time trying to visualize what it would be like to be there because I knew it was going to be a really big venue. There’s going to be a lot of people, and I knew there was always the possibility that it was overwhelming.”
But it wasn’t.
Since she’d first seen her older sister, Morgan Fadely, swimming and started participating herself at the age of seven, Fadely had set high aspirations on her own in order to push herself to be her best. That, of course, came with the support of her father, early coach and the Siler City District 5 and mayor pro tem commissioner, Lewis Fadely, and her sister. As a kid, she wasn’t sure her goals would come to fruition, but she figured anything could happen if she just didn’t give up.
Looking back, Fadely had delivered many times with heavy weights on her shoulders. She became J-M’s first ever state champion in swimming after winning the 2021 girls’ 100-yard breaststroke and a six-time national champion in college, winning in four different events.
When it came to winning for one’s school, especially in a team setting in which others depend on one’s performance, Fadely knew the pressure was on. But for the Olympic trials, alongside the best athletes in the country, the mind was at ease.
“My goal was just to enjoy it, be able to be there and take it all in and no become nervous,” Fadely said. “It was a big venue, and it was a lot of space, but when I was on the pool deck, it felt comfortable.”
At the Olympic trials, Fadely could just focus on herself and her individual race without the pressure of what a team or program needed from her.
Before her race, Fadely did her usual routine of listening to music, jumping and pacing back and forth in the ready room. She didn’t care that it was an Olympic trial and people might question her way of doing things — the main strategy was to keep it simple and perform the race how she knows to do it.
“I don’t really think much,” Fadely said. “I’ve done this so many time that I kind of just turn my brain off, and I know what to do without thinking about it. I don’t want to overthink it and start second guessing myself.”
Said Fadely, “I don’t remember much of my race just because I was just reacting to the race and being in there knowing that this is where I put everything into practice.”
Just about the only thing Fadely thought about before and during the race was what she wanted to get out of it. Of course, she wanted to make the Olympic team, but in the preliminaries, she just wanted to win her heat and have a chance at reaching the semifinals.
A little over a minute after the start of the race, Fadely didn’t quite reach those goals, but in her mind, and on the results sheet, it was still a success. Coming into the race ranked No. 35 in the event, Fadely jumped 16 spots in the final rankings after the first swim.
“You had to be top 16, and I was 19, so I’ll take it,” Fadely said. “I was happy with that.”
From here, Fadely will go back to setting her mind on winning another national title at Kenyon. She feels like a push for the 2028 Olympics is “definitely” a possibility once she graduates college.
