Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Mindy Wolff likes to say she was born nine months after her mother fell into the dolphin tank at Sea World. Not true, of course, although she was born to swim.
 
Wolff, who graduated from William & Mary in 1975, made the AIAW national meet in each of her final three seasons. She established school records in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes along with several relay events. She was a four-time state champion and twice was named second-team All-American.
 
And, although shoulder injuries and the coronavirus outbreak have kept her out of the pool of late, Wolff isn't done. Last year, at the age of 66, she ranked first in U.S. Masters Swimming in the 50 breaststroke. From 2005-19, she was No. 1 in six individual events with two national records.
 
Two months ago, Wolff was one of 10 former Tribe athletes named to the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame. She found out during a reunion of classmates, and she had no idea it was coming.
 
"I was blown away because I thought the big secret was that another classmate was celebrating her birthday and we invited her family unbeknownst to her," Wolff said. "I was as dumbfounded as it appears on the video."
 
Credit Marilyn Ward Midyette, Wolff's close friend since their freshman year in 1971-72, for keeping a secret.
 
"I had the honor of telling Mindy she had been selected for the Hall of Fame," said Midyette, now executive director of the W&M alumni association. "She's a very, very, very bright person and so much fun. She's that old adage of work hard, play hard.
 
"Her athletic accomplishments have been as great as an adult through the master's program. To have raised three kids and have a professional life, and to still have swimming as big a part of her life as it was then, that's remarkable and noteworthy."
 
After Midyette made the surprise announcement, Wolff rose from her chair and let out a "whoop." She then smiled at Midyette and said, "You're not to be trusted."
 
Wolff was 6 years old when she began competitive swimming, 10 when she joined the AAU circuit, 13 when she swam in her first national championship meet, and 15 when she qualified for the 1968 Olympic trials. But along the way, she developed shoulder problems that would turn out to be chronic.
 
"My AAU coach at the time was friends with the Philadelphia Flyers' trainer," Wolff said by telephone from her suburban Philadelphia home. "I remember him coming to the house for physical therapy.
 
"Back then, it was all 'no pain, no gain.' I can't do anything 100 percent; I have to do it 120 percent. I really do believe it was the supplemental training that trashed my shoulders."
 
When it came time to pick a college, Wolff didn't want to swim for a high-profile, uber-competitive program like Arizona State or Indiana. She believed William & Mary, with its academic reputation and relaxed atmosphere in the pool, was the right fit.
 
The team's coach was Chris Jackson. Wolff called her "a chill coach" who understood that academics came first. Jackson was OK with the fact that Wolff, who lived off campus for a few months as a freshman because of overcrowded dorms, was unable to make every practice.
 
All this time later, Wolff believes she is "undeserving" of the Hall of Fame. Her resume suggests otherwise.
 
Records from that era are incomplete at best, but we do know that Wolff broke a school record in the 100 breaststroke in her first meet. That, and her record in the 50, would stand until national champion Erin Sheehey came along in the early 1980s. 
 
In her final two seasons at W&M, Wolff won state championships in the 50 and 100 breaststroke and was on the winning relay teams in the 200 medley and 200 free. In her four seasons, W&M won 21 of 28 dual meets along with a state championship.
 
After graduation, Wolff became too busy to swim. She taught several math courses at a middle school in suburban Philadelphia while coaching a girls' high school team and working on her MBA at Temple. 
 
In 1980, she left teaching and joined a computer company in Philadelphia. On lunch breaks, she would swim in the University of Pennsylvania's pool. In '83, she began working at Rohm and Haas Chemical, which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical.
 
That's when Wolff, as she puts it, joined a group of "fellow old swimmers" at the YMCA for formal practices. In 1988, at the age of 35, she married Ed Greer. Two years later, she gave birth to their first son, Doug. In 1992, Tim came along.
 
With Ed often away on business, and her shoulders continuing to ache, Wolff put swimming on hold and cut back on her work hours. In March of '98, she gave birth to their third son, Brad.
 
"I had my third one at 45," Wolff said. "When I started labor, I thought, 'What the heck? I should be going through menopause!'"
 
When Brad began kindergarten, Wolff began tutoring and resumed her swimming routine. That was interrupted by shoulder surgery in 2003 and breast cancer in '09. But each time she kept at it. She has won six USMS individual championships and set two national records.
 
"I probably have chlorine and cortisone coursing through my blood," she said. "I'm a smarter swimmer, which comes with age. Of course, you lose your strength and all that stuff."
 
In April of 2019, she won the 50-yard breaststroke at the USMS Nationals in Arizona to maintain her No. 1 ranking in the event. But her shoulders were getting worse.
 
Wolff underwent surgery last December. Then came March, when the coronavirus outbreak shut down just about everything, including pools.
 
Wolff still tutors math as well as SAT and ACT prep courses. She's also sewing masks for hospital staffs and community leaders.
 
Forty-five years after she left, Wolff still has strong feelings for her alma mater. Her guidance counselor had discouraged her from applying to W&M, saying it didn't take many northerners. When she arrived, the "Philly gal" felt a bit out of place.
 
That quickly faded. And life-long friendships began.
 
"Strong bonds were woven despite our being unaware of it at the time," Wolff said. "These were good people, like family.  We were living, eating, laughing, crying, swimming, dating, and studying together 24/7. Creating memories and heart-binding friendships. 
 
"I'm kind of glad I didn't realize this was happening while it was. This shows that it was unforced, unscripted, spontaneous and genuine. I don't believe this magic would have happened anywhere else but at W&M."