Bay conquered, McKissick sets his sights on pool at UMBC
At some point next February, Andrew McKissick’s swimming career will end, and the early-morning wake-ups, long hours in the pool and stress of competition will be in the past. But so will the years of memories he has forged at the UMBC Aquatic Complex. So will his chance to put a stamp on his college career. So will victories like the one he earned last Sunday in the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, a 4.4-mile race he won for the third time in four years. McKissick, a rising senior at UMBC, has trained at the Retriever Aquatic Club since he was 7. He worked with Retrievers coach Chad Cradock his entire childhood, and when it came time to pick a college, he didn’t see any reason to go elsewhere.
“It’s just home,” he said. “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it. I’ve loved every day I’ve spent there my entire life.”
McKissick, 20, broke the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim record Sunday with a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 15 seconds. The victory has become routine for McKissick, who first won the race the summer before he started college in 2013.
Now McKissick hopes a standout season in Catonsville follows. He has struggled with distance swimming during the academic year — he says he “slacked off ” in the summer of 2013 and is still working to recapture the success he had at Mount Saint Joseph.
McKissick has no plans to swim after college, and he thinks he’ll at least take a break from the Chesapeake Bay Swim next year.
Cradock didn’t expect this kind of career trajectory when he met McKissick 13 years ago.
As time passed, the coach saw the swimmer’s times inch toward the UMBC records, and saw his competitive edge.
“He’s even more of a student of the sport,” Cradock said. “Someone who really wants to make sure he’s going to go out in style.”