Athlete of the Week: Krissy Brinsley

Krissy Brinsley is a senior public health major on the Hopkins varsity swimming team. In her three and a half years at Hopkins, Brinsley has garnered a long list of accolades both in and out of the pool.

Krissy began swimming when she was seven years old because her family moved into a house with a pool. Krissy's mother wanted to make sure that Brinsley could swim, so she signed her up for a summer league. The summer sport turned into a year-round commitment. Today Brinsley continues to excel at swimming.

She chose to attend Johns Hopkins after visiting on a recruiting trip.

Hopkins is a long way from her home in Indiana, but she felt that the school was "a good fit." She preferred the balance of athletics and academics, saying that she did not want the pressure of a Division I program. Brinsley credits her coach, George Kennedy, with being very understanding of the rigorous academic pressures at Hopkins. This is especially important for Brinsley due to her tough academic schedule.

As a public health major, her day usually begins with practice at 6:30 a.m. She then takes the shuttle to the Bloomberg School of Public Health in East Baltimore, where she attends three hours of classes.

After her classes end, Brinsley stays at the medical campus to work on a team with Professor Mike Sweat and six graduate students that studies HIV intervention. Brinsley is currently applying to graduate schools of public health and hopes to eventually work in international health.

After work at the School of Public Health, Brinsley returns to the Homewood campus for practice. She typically logs as many as 6,000 yards, or up to four miles, in a single practice. The team also lifts weights and does conditioning such as sit-ups and push-ups in addition to their pool time.

As a team, the Hopkins swimmers have had great success in the past several years. The Blue Jays placed fifth at Nationals last year and hope to improve upon that finish with a fourth place result or higher. Brinsley describes the freshman class as a "huge asset" to the team, and she has a positive outlook for the season.

Despite being a Division III team, Hopkins competes against many Division I opponents, including the University of Maryland. This weekend, the team travels to Ohio for the Miami University of Ohio Invitational Meet where they will meet several Division I teams.

Brinsley has also had great individual success as a swimmer: she holds Hopkins records in several backstroke events as well as several relay records. As a freshman, she was named the UAA Conference Swimmer of the Year. Both as a freshman and as a junior, she was voted team MVP. She has been an Academic All American for the last two years.

This year, Brinsley has changed events; she will no longer be competing in the individual medley (IM), but will instead pick up several freestyle races. As a result, Brinsley goal is to place in the top eight nationally in every event. If her past finishes are any indication of what is to come, Brinsley should have no trouble achieving her goal.