NC State swimmer Katharine Berkoff takes bronze medal in 100 back at Paris Olympics

Though she couldn’t match Australian star swimmer Kaylee McKeown’s Olympic record pace, Katharine Berkoff will return to the U.S. with an Olympic medal.

A former N.C. State swimmer, Berkoff placed third in the 100 backstroke final to claim a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic games on Tuesday.

“It’s just super special,” Berkoff said. “I’ve been dreaming of being at the Olympics for my whole life and definitely have more goals and not quite satisfied yet but seriously so grateful to be here and get another medal for Team USA. It’s just been such an amazing experience here.”

Her embrace with her parents after receiving her bronze medal in the medal ceremony is a moment that she will never forget.

“It was really special,” Berkoff said. “I’m just so grateful they get to be here to watch. It’s been awesome.”

Berkoff competed in the final alongside fellow American, Regan Smith who is the current world record holder in the event and runner up in the finals. Just two lanes over, McKeown, the defending champion in this event, posted a time of 57.33, finishing first overall with an new Olympic record. Smith was just behind at 57.66 seconds while Berkoff finished at 57.98.

That earned Berkoff bronze, marking Team USA’s 3,000th Olympic medal and USA swimming’s 600th Olympic medal.

On Monday, the N.C. State graduate entered the semifinals as the top seed after posting a time of 57.99 in the 100-meter backstroke preliminary heats – the only swimmer to finish in under 58 seconds.

As the daughter of two-time Olympic swimmer Dave Berkoff and fellow bronze medalist in 100m backstroke, being successful in the pool came at no surprise. Berkoff has told her parents she would one day be on the Olympic stage.

“I know how hard this is, it’s almost impossible to do,” Dave Berkoff said. “But I certainly wasn’t going to step on her dreams ever and she just kind of stuck with it and kept going and kept going and works really amazingly hard. All that hard work paid off.”

Berkoff’s work ethic put her in the position she is today as an Olympic medalist. After nearly making the Olympic team in 2021, Berkoff put in a tremendous amount of work outside the pool to develop her mental game.

Taking the pressure off of herself has been a game-changer for Berkoff. Using her “what I know now” list and thinking “confident thoughts” has allowed Berkoff to focus on the event in front of her rather than stressing about how to get to the next level.

Since the upset in 2021, when she missed making the Olympic team by a mere fraction of a second, Berkoff has earned 10 medals at international championships and two more 100-meter backstroke NCAA titles with the Wolfpack, doing everything possible to guarantee herself a spot in the pool in Paris.

Despite now being a bronze medalist, Berkoff’s family describes her as one of the most humble people they know. The amount of media and fan attention hasn’t set in for her yet, and they aren’t sure it ever will.

“If you met her on the street I don’t think you’d ever know that she’s an Olympian, or five time national champion or American record holder or anything,” her boyfriend, Noah Henderson, said. “She’s one of the sweetest, coolest people I’ve ever met in my life and I think she’s very special in and out of the pool.”

Dave Berkoff knew that regardless of today’s results, he would be immensely proud of his daughter for her accomplishments. Above all else, he hoped that she would take the time to appreciate where she is and how hard she worked to get there.

“She has been incredibly focused on her swimming and I think if she could define herself, she would say I’m a swimmer first and everything else is second,” Dave Berkoff said. “I think her perseverance and her ability to adapt to difficulty has made her what she is now.”

Anna Laible and Maya Waid are students with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. Laible hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).