INDIANAPOLIS — A University of Georgia grad truly got invested in swimming late in her teen years, but that hasn't stopped her from pursuing the sport with utter dedication. Now, years later, she is preparing to compete in the Olympic Trials for the Paris Summer Olympics.
Julianna Stephens is heading to Indianapolis for the swimming trials, which are being held at Lucas Oil Stadium June 15-23. She will compete in the 50M freestyle event on June 22. The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the Paris Games.
"As soon as I saw that I made the cut, I just started crying because I knew I had it in me, it's just I had to have the perfect race," Stephens said about making the Olympic Trials. "It took me so long to manage my anxiety and the nerves and to control that. And that one race, I was able to control it, and everything came together for me. And so it was just an immediate weight off my shoulders."
Although Stephens is a UGA graduate, she will be returning to take advantage of another year of eligibility, competing on the swimming and diving team. She will also take some classes that will prepare her for nursing school.
She committed to year-round training with Swim Atlanta during eighth grade, where she dreamed about swimming in college. Throughout her career, she has worked under multiple coaches who made it to trials and the Olympics.
As Stephens began to look at colleges, she wanted to go big or go home: Division I or nothing. After looking at a few schools, she opted to stay in her home state and attend UGA, where she says the coaches became invested in her success.
"I knew that it [going to UGA] was going to be a challenge for me, but I do better when I'm surrounded by the best people, the best swimmers," Stephens said. "I wasn't going to be the fastest on the team, but I'd be surrounded by the fastest, and that would help me improve."
The UGA swim and dive team has produced many talented athletes. This year, 32 current, former and future Bulldogs are competing in trials. Already, UGA alum Nic Fink has qualified for his second consecutive Olympics in the 100M breaststroke, with a winning time of 59.08. Fink finished fifth in the 200M breaststroke at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and is the reigning world champion in the 100M, according to UGA Swimming & Diving.
In 2021, the Bulldogs had seven swimmers on the U.S. team, the most of any collegiate program. In total, Georgia has produced 42 U.S. Olympic swimmers, sending at least five competitors to the past four games.
Although the collegiate competition season is only from September through March, training is all year long. Stephens recently made the Olympic trial cut - 25.69 seconds - only a few weeks ago at a summer meet. Her vigor was renewed last summer, almost exactly a year before she qualified, when she missed the Olympic cut by .01 seconds—the closest she could possibly be without making the cut.
"That's why this trial has meant so much to me; it is because I pretty much have been training for years," Stephens said.
But the daily training and hard work paid off. Through those obstacles and narrow misses, Stephens has only grown more confident in her abilities, tamping down her anxiety.
Stephens hopes to make the Olympic team and represent the U.S. in Paris. Imagining the opportunity leaves her borderline speechless.
"It's the highest level any athlete can compete in," Stephens said. "And ultimately, I think that's what any athlete, every athlete works towards."
The Olympic swimming trial prelims, at 11 a.m. each morning, stream on Peacock. The finals, at 8 p.m. each night, air live on NBC and Peacock.
