Bison second-year swimmer Kelsey Wog has had a lot of success in the pool this season, winning six gold medals at the Canada West and U SPORTS swimming championships. This does not include the boxes of medals she has already collected in her swimming career. The Manitoban caught up with the star swimmer and talked everything from pre-race rituals to Stranger Things.
The Manitoban: What got you into swimming?
Kelsey Wog: I started with the I Can Swim program and then they wouldn’t let me go to the next level and they’re like, ‘You should try competitive swimming, cause you’re like, quite good at it.’ So my mom put me in that.
M: What is one race you would like to get better at?
KW: I guess I want to get better at breaststroke because that’s my thing. I plateaued and I need to just change something so we’re trying something different at practice, I just want to get better at my 200 metre for sure.
M: What’s your ultimate swimming dream?
KW: To make the Olympics.
M: What’s your pre-race ritual?
KW: Honestly, I don’t try to create rituals because then I’m like ‘Oh I didn’t eat this or do this so I’m not going to do good.’ But I usually go for donuts after.
M: What’s your favourite pump up song to listen to before a race?
KW: Pretty much just rap.
M: If you could play any other sport what would it be?
KW: Gymnastics or soccer. I really liked soccer as a kid.
M: What’s your favourite movie to watch on the road?
KW: I don’t really watch movies, so no comment.
M: What’s the best thing about being a Bison?
KW: I get to sleep in my own bed, and my mom and dad cook for me, and I get to be at home with my pets.
M: What’s your favourite Netflix series to binge?
KW: I watched Stranger Things in four days, like everything. I got into Grey’s Anatomy and I watched like six seasons in a week or so and I stopped. No more binging, I’m done.
M: If you could have dinner with anybody, dead or alive, who would it be?
KW: Clara Hughes or Annamay Pierse (she held the world record in 200m breaststroke in 2009).
M: Have you ever worn all your medals at once?
KW: No.
M: Do you want to?
KW: No. I weighed them the other day, my three boxes weighed about 80 pounds.
M: That’s insane. What is one thing people may not know about swimming?
KW: How hard it is.
