Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

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“My first year, I gained at least 10 pounds,”
she said. “I had never lifted before, and here
I was lifting. Besides new muscles I gained, I
also gained some unnecessary weight. I didn’t
feel completely well in the pool. So for the
next year, I tried to learn from my mistakes,
to eat better and choose other meals, and I
started lifting differently. With trying new
stuff, that helped me moving forward.”
Without question, as she earned All-
America honors in the 200-yard butterfly as
a sophomore and honorable mention honors
as a junior. In addition, she twice has been
a part of relay teams that earned honorable
mention All-America honors.
Today, she holds the school record in
the 200 butterfly and in the 100 and 200
backstroke. Her times in the 100 butterfly,
and the 200 and the 400 individual medley,
rank among the fastest in school history.
In addition, she has been a part of the 200
medley, 400 medley and 800 freestyle relay
teams that hold school records.
In short, she holds individually or
shares as part of a relay team six school
records—the most in school history by a
women’s swimmer.
“Klaudia is the most well rounded
swimmer we’ve had come through,” Skinner
said. “She could theoretically score in 10
events at the ACC Championships. She could
theoretically score in five events at the NCAA
Championships. She’s that versatile and
gifted. She’s got speed in freestyle, so she’s
been on our sprint freestyle relays. She’s got
stroke, where she leads off our medley relays
in the backstroke. She’s got IM [individual
medley] and has been to the ACC finals
in those events. She’s truly one of those
swimmers that is unique—very reminiscent
of [former swimmer] Brandon Fiala on the
men’s side.”
Skinner views Nazieblo in a special light
for perfectly good reasons. Of course, she’s
supremely talented, but she also decided to
return for her final year even though she could
have graduated with a degree last spring.
Instead, she will get a degree in economics
in May, while adding minors in both
communications and business leadership.
She plans to make the most of her senior
year in the pool, too, in preparation for a
possible future in swimming. She competed
at the World Championships in Budapest,
Hungary and then at the World University
Games in Taipei, Taiwan over the summer
and hopes those performances carry her
into next spring’s ACC Championships. She
finished sixth in the 200 butterfly in Taiwan.
Her travels add to her collection of
international stops. She has swum in
competitions on three continents—North
America, Europe and Asia.
“That’s one of the advantages of this
sport,” Nazieblo said. “If you’re good enough,
you get to know the world better because you
have a chance to participate in meets that are
on the other side of the world. That’s one of
the reasons I keep going to swimming. I’m
hoping to qualify for more meets and see
other places.”
Skinner, who raves about Nazieblo’s
leadership skills with the incoming freshman
class, hopes that his superstar gets to take at
least one more trip.
“Swimming fast sets her up for 2020,” he
said. “I believe she has what it takes to go to
the Olympic Games [in Tokyo] and represent
Poland.”
For sure, she has come a long way in a
relatively short amount of time. She would be
the first to say that. In perfect English, too.
KLAUDIA
NAZIEBLO