Kaelyn Gridley Leaves Her Mark on Duke Swimming

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Kaelyn Gridley Leaves Her Mark on Duke Swimming

4/20/2026 2:28:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Record-setting success in the pool, academic excellence in the classroom and lasting impact as a teammate define Kaelyn Gridley’s Duke career.

By: GoDuke The Magazine

Senior Kaelyn Gridley made Duke swimming history on March 20 when she capped a stellar career with a bronze medal in the 200-yard breaststroke and a pair of All-America awards at the 2026 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held in Atlanta.

Two weeks later, Gridley was filling the hours normally reserved for the pool with baking banana bread at her apartment, before sitting down to talk about her four years in Durham, her favorite moments and what made her successful.

“She also made banana bread over spring break while she was preparing (for the NCAA Championships),” noted Duke director of swimming Brian Barnes. “She’s doing what she’ll continue to do after Duke — fill her time with productive things.”

Productive would be one way to describe Gridley’s time as a Blue Devil. Elite might be more accurate though. She excelled in all areas as a student-athlete — athletically, academically and socially.

Athletically, her name sits atop the Duke records list for the 100 and 200 breaststrokes as well as the fastest 200 and 400 medley relays in school history. Her 12 All-America honors are the most ever for a Blue Devil.

“It was so much fun,” Maguire said about his childhood. “It was ultra competitive. There were a lot of fights and a lot of tears, but there was a lot of fun. We played knee hockey constantly. Plenty of holes (made in the house) and some gashes in foreheads, but there was so much fun in the house. I would never change a thing.”

She became the first Duke swimmer to win an ACC title in the 100 breaststroke in 2025 and took fifth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 200 breast. We could go on and on about her success in the pool, but that wouldn’t suffice if you want to get to know Gridley.

Academically, she will graduate in May with a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in economics. Like in the pool, Gridley collected numerous Scholar All-America and All-ACC Academic awards for her success as a student.

Socially, she created a fulfilling life outside of the pool by making meaningful and lasting friendships with her Blue Devil teammates as well as her engineering classmates. Gridley epitomizes the term student-athlete.

“I don’t think I could have had a better experience in every aspect,” said Gridley about her time at Duke. “I think there are so many people here who are willing to support you and help you out and guide you. I am so grateful that I came here.”

This is not a story about an athlete who singularly dreamed of being a Blue Devil. It’s a story of how someone chose Duke, poured herself into all of it and subsequently left an indelible mark on the place and people. After all, Duke was not on Gridley’s radar at the very beginning and her method of making the decision to spend four years in Durham was uniquely her.

Hailing from Chicago, Gridley was well acquainted with the Midwest, especially since her older twin brothers swam at Northwestern and her oldest brother attended Michigan. The country’s 15th-ranked swimmer and sporting the nation’s top times in the breaststroke coming out of high school, Gridley had an abundance of options of where she could call home for the next four years.

“I was looking back at my notes a while ago and I was looking at the schools I really wanted to go to and it was totally different,” Gridley said about her college decision process. “I remember I was filling out questionnaires with some of my family friends who had gone through the recruiting process with their kids and I kind of stumbled on Duke.”

She originally was thinking of staying in the Midwest. She said her dad liked California, but she was intimidated by the thought of going to the West Coast. So, what does she do? She moves to the East Coast.

All kidding aside, Gridley knew she wanted the combination of academic and athletic excellence and narrowed her list to Stanford, Northwestern and Duke. Then came the fateful Venn diagram created by Gridley and her mom.

“Those were the three that were left for me when I looked at the academic, athletic and social aspects,” Gridley said. “Then me and my mom made a Venn diagram chart because this was during covid and I didn’t know anyone who went to Duke. I knew my brothers who went to Northwestern, but I didn’t know much about Stanford because it was on the West Coast. And we were just looking at the Venn diagram and I said, ‘I think Duke is the best place.”

The decision process should glean a little insight into Gridley as a person. Analytical, but also possessing a certain amount of creativity, Gridley carried those traits throughout her career in the pool and in the classroom.

Barnes says he puts swimmers into two categories — artists or mechanics. Gridley, according to him, was an artist despite her mechanical engineering major.

“I talk about this all the time about her,” Barnes said. “The mechanical side of the brain never crossed over into the swimming world. It was more of an artistry approach with her and how I coached her.”

The Project Lead the Way curriculum at New Trier High School gave Gridley her first exposure to design within engineering. Then, a class in her freshman year at Duke solidified her love for that aspect of mechanical engineering.

“Freshman year, they put you through a lot of project courses,” Gridley said. “And my freshman year I was in an intro course where you get a client, a project and a problem statement. I was paired with the Lemur Center, and we were building a lemur feeder, which was one of the more fun projects, and I got to meet some really good friends through it. That kind of got me hooked on design thinking.”

There were times where balancing it all was challenging, especially sophomore year while in the thick of her most rigorous academic classes like thermodynamics. And for those who aren’t aware, a swimmer’s daily schedule, like their pool workouts, are not for the faint of heart.

Here is a snapshot of a normal Tuesday. Wake up at 5:30 a.m. to head to the weight room for a one-hour lift. Make the short walk to the pool for another 60-minute workout. Shower, refuel with food and head to class for a few hours. Then, depending on class schedule, it’s back in the pool at either 1:30 or 3:30 p.m., before getting dinner. Finish the night with homework and, if time permits, a TV show. In bed ideally no later than 10:30 p.m.

All of this — the brutal thermodynamics course or the classic Brian Barnes 20/50s practice — have played a significant role in Gridley’s success. It wasn’t just the physical training that made her a faster swimmer. It’s the recognition of her surviving and thriving through those challenges. Gridley leaned on these experiences to calm her nerves ahead of the races throughout her career.

“I’ll be super nervous and then I get behind the blocks and then I always remember ‘What am I nervous for?” Gridley said. “The pain? And then I just remind myself ‘You can handle any amount of pain that you may feel in this race.’ I’ll think about the sets I’ve done and think ‘You can handle it.’”

For Barnes, Gridley’s ability to recognize this trait about herself was one of her superpowers. Her introspectiveness allowed her to touch the wall in third place against the nation’s best, win an ACC Championship and lead relays to record-setting times.

“Her ability to express (those feelings) and deal with it head-on was an X factor in her,” Barnes said. “On the highest stages, she’s dealt with that with pure grace, pure determination and belief in herself.”

While self-belief and self-motivation spurred much of her success in an individual sport like swimming, Gridley credits her teammates as being a huge source of inspiration and joy. If you ask her, the most memorable moments in her four years of swimming always involved others.

When she won her ACC title, she most remembers having her teammates behind her at that moment. She can’t even describe the experience, she only knows her teammates were brought to tears of happiness, which in turn caused the normally even-keeled Gridley to well up with pride.

“I can’t even describe the experience,” Gridley said about her ACC Championship winning swim. “I forget who I was talking to, but they said they asked freshmen, ‘What was your favorite swimming moment?’ A couple of them said it was when I won the 100 breast. It was just so surreal. It was great to hear how much of an impact I had on them, and I couldn’t have done it without their support.”

That’s right. Swimming is a team sport. Swimmers might be in their own head during a race, but the hours of practice in the pool prior is where champions are made and those yards are not swum alone. Gridley relied on her teammates.

“Swimming in the competition aspect is a very individually motivated sport. But it’s a team sport in the way it takes so much grit and dedication that the people you’re around every day are the ones who help keep you motivated. They push you in practice. They are the ones making jokes at the wall. I tried swimming alone this summer a little bit and it is a completely different ball game. We are a team. People get behind each other when it comes to races. You just might be a little more alone when competing.”

That’s why one of Kaelyn’s favorite races in her four years was the moment the 400 medley relay scored at the 2024 NCAA Championships. She reflects on the joy she, Ali Pfaff, Aleyna Ozkan and Sarah Foley felt the moment they saw their names among the top eight on the board.

“I just remember everyone laid it on the line,” Gridley said. “And when we figured out we scored, it was one of the best things ever to do with your team. And to do it with (Sarah) Foley who I really looked up to was such a fun experience.”

Two years later, Gridley concluded her swimming career as the inspirational force. She was now the Blue Devil that younger swimmers looked towards, but all she could think of in the moment was how grateful she was for everything Duke provided her.

“The first thing she said to me after her last swim was ‘Thank you,’” Barnes said. “Just a genuine appreciation for my belief in her and the program’s belief in her. She’s one of the most genuine swimmers I’ve coached. She’s just a great teammate and a great person. I’m surrounded by genuine and great people at Duke, but Kaelyn brought people together in a way she didn’t know she was doing it.”

This story originally appeared in the 17.8 issue of GoDuke The Magazine. Dedicated to sharing the stories of Duke student-athletes, present and past, GoDuke The Magazine is published for Duke Athletics by LEARFIELD with editorial offices at 3100 Tower Blvd., Suite 404, Durham, NC 27707. To subscribe, join the Iron Dukes or call (336) 831-0767.