When Campbell Stoll first arrived at UT as a freshman from Wisconsin, she had her sights set on someday winning an NCAA championship, prioritizing development and building confidence in one of the country’s premier swimming programs.
Now a junior, Stoll found that confidence throughout the season and saw this year as an opportunity to capture her first NCAA individual title.
“I’m definitely way more confident than I was my freshman year, and it’s 100% due to my coaches and my teammates’ support,” Stoll said. “It’s really helped me get in the mindset before the NCAA (Championships) of ‘I could win this.’”
Stoll went on to compete in this year’s NCAA championships with momentum after winning her first conference title in the 200-meter fly event during the Southeastern Conference championships. After finishing in the B-pool her freshman year, followed by a seventh-place finish last year, Stoll was peaking at the right time.
After placing fourth in the preliminaries to qualify for the championship heat, Stoll went on to win the 200-meter fly NCAA championship, beating out Indiana University freshman Alex Shackell with a personal best of 1:50.26 to secure the title. Campbell realized she was a champion when her teammates met her with instant congratulations.
“I couldn’t really see the board because it was so far away, and so I just looked at my teammates, and they were going crazy and smiling and clapping,” Stoll said. “So when that moment hit and I saw my teammates, I knew that I had won, which was a feeling I can’t even put into words.”
Stoll saw her growth throughout the season in preparation for this event. Preparing for the 200-meter fly as early as January and setting her goal with the Texas coaching staff, Stoll won the same event in both the Eddie Reese Texas Showdown and the dual meet with Texas A&M events during the season.
“In January, I had a couple of practices with my coaches, and they came up to me afterwards … they were like, ‘You can win this 200 fly, like you can do this,’ so it kind of just put it on my radar,” Stoll said. “So having that mindset that I could win this, and having the confidence through all of my training, it definitely led up to that moment.”
Although Stoll won the 200-meter fly, Texas finished in the top three for the sixth season in a row, just knocking on the door of the national championship.
Stoll will be entering her final season at Texas and will play a major role if the Longhorns want to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning a team national championship. Still, she said she is grateful for what the program has done for her so far.
“I’m definitely grateful for all of the experience that I had with my teammates and my coaches. They’re the hardest working girls, teammates and friends that I could have ever asked for,” Stoll said. “ So (I’m) definitely grateful for every moment and laugh and hard practice that I’ve done with those girls.”
