By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

A month ago, Aiden Bond completed his freshman year at William & Mary and celebrated his 19th birthday. He also realized a life-long dream of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team trials in the 50-meter freestyle.

He won't be the only swimmer representing the green and gold at this week's trials. Missy Cundiff, who has been in the corporate world since graduating from W&M in 2022, also has qualified in the 50 free. This will be her second trip to the trials­ — her first came in 2021.

Their next race will come in a pool that was constructed in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. The first day drew a crowd of 20,689.

"It's been a goal of mine for a while now," said Bond, whose preliminary race is set for late morning or early afternoon on Thursday. "For it to finally come to fruition has been awesome.

"When I got my cut, I was stoked. It's the epitome of American swimming."

Cundiff, 24, was thankful to get it done on her first try, which came last summer in Richmond.

"I was really hoping I wouldn't have to chase it down and swim multiple meets to get it," said Cundiff, whose prelims are scheduled for early morning/late afternoon Saturday.

"The first time I qualified (in '21), I swam I don't even know how many meets to get the time. This one was such a relief."

Bond clocked a lifetime-best 22.60, well below the 22.79 cut, at the Eastern Zone Super Sectionals last month. It had been nearly a year since he had been timed in a 50-meter race.

"It was in the junior nationals, and my time was 23.4," he said. "So I dropped eight-tenths of a second, which is huge. I was amazed I went that fast. It was an awesome race."

Bond won't be one of the favorites in Indianapolis, but Tribe coach Nate Kellogg considers that a non-issue. In fact, it might be a good thing.

"He benefits from not having a ton of pressure on his shoulders, although I know he wants to go out and perform well," he said. "Making this cut is a huge accomplishment for a freshman. And getting to have this experience under his belt for the next three years is going to serve him very well."

Cundiff qualified last July in the USA Swimming Futures Championship with a time of 25.40, bettering her time of 25.46 in the '21 Olympic trials. This while training mostly on her own while working full time as a senior audit associate at Grant Thornton LLP in Arlington.

"For a while, I was recycling practices I had done in college or received over the summers when I had internships," Cundiff said. "Once I expressed interest to Nate that I wanted to do trials again, he sent me some practices to keep it fresh and do some more technique-focused things.

"I swam completely alone, which is kind of funny at these public pools. Sometimes there are only a couple of lanes open and you're sharing one with five people. You get a little bit jaded in college when you're swimming with all these people who know what they're doing and know lane etiquette."

Cundiff became an interesting story in the '21 Olympic trials. The field was divided into two groups — the slower qualifiers (Wave 1) and the faster (Wave 2). Those who finish among the top two in Wave 1 can then compete in Wave 2 for a shot at making the Olympic team.

Seeded 46th, Cundiff was a surprise winner of Wave 1. But instead of competing in Wave 2 two weeks later, she honored her summer internship commitment with Grant Thornton.
In her return, Cundiff's plans are only to cherish the experience.

"Back in 2021, there was more of a feeling like I had something to prove because I needed to represent the program well," she said. "And I'm very happy to be able to do that again. But I'm approaching this one from the perspective that I get to experience this meet in full and have some fun.

"And to be able to say I did it twice is a cool thing. I want to swim a race I can be proud of and watch some really great swimming after I'm done."

Bond dittos that.

"My goal is to improve on what I did at sectionals and with another best time," he said. "I'm not trying to put too much pressure on it because obviously it's the fastest swimmers in the U.S.
"I'll just try to do my best time and see where that puts me and have fun with it. Hopefully, in four years, I'll be back."