Wildcat in the water: Mary Beth Kittelson Trogdon shares K-State swim team memories
Although cats aren’t known for liking water, we know one Wildcat who certainly does.
Mary Beth Kittelson Trogdon grew up swimming competitively and joined the K-State
swim team when she enrolled at the university in the 1970s. She started out practicing
in the pool in the basement of Nichols Hall (sometimes plaster chunks would fall from
the ceiling on the swimmers!) and ended up traveling to compete at the national level
— her first commercial plane ride.
Trogdon recently wrote to the K-State Alumni Association and shared some of her photos
and memories from her time as a member of the K-State swim team. We’re excited to
highlight her purple pride and her part in K-State history:
***
From the age of 9, I swam competitively until I graduated from high school. I loved
it and did very well. When I decided to attend K-State, I had no idea they were going
to begin a competitive swim team. Both of my brothers graduated from K-State with
architecture degrees: Gary Kittelson ’68 and Rick Kittelson ’74. I began in fall 1973,
so Rick and I were able to attend one year together, which was a blessing.
Being successful in my league swim meets prior to college, I was excited to learn
about the start-up of a new swimming program from a flyer in my dorm, Goodnow Hall,
as did about 15 other girls across campus. Along with other women’s programs at the
intercollegiate level at that time, K-State swimming was governed by the Association
for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.
K-State was in the process of building a new natatorium, but it wasn’t finished by
the onset of fall 1973, so we started practicing in the basement of an old burned-out
building on campus — Nichols Hall.
Nichols Hall was built in 1911, resembling a castle, for the physical education and
military science departments. It burned in December 1968; the fire gutted the interior
but left the basement pretty much intact, which housed a pool. Somehow, our coach,
Mike McIntyre, arranged for us to begin practicing in that pool. I remember, periodically,
plaster chunks would fall from the ceiling as we were swimming! The building was rebuilt
in 1985 — no pool! — and, as you know, is still used today.
Though it was K-State’s first year for women’s swimming, our team was very competitive
with other Big 8 Conference schools who had women’s swimming programs. I usually competed
in the 50- and 100-fly, the medley relay, and the 100- and 200-freestyle relays.
The Big 8 Swimming and Diving Championships held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater,
Oklahoma, in March 1974 included Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska
at Kearney, the University of Missouri, Oklahoma State University, the University
of Oklahoma, and K-State. We dueled the University of Kansas each semester; however,
for some reason I don’t know or remember, KU didn’t compete in the Big 8 Championships.
Out of conference, we competed at an invitational at Southern Illinois. Our 200- and
400-yard freestyle relay teams qualified for a national competition, and I also qualified
individually for the 50-butterfly (which they’ve dropped since then, along with other
50-meter races).
The AIAW National Swimming and Diving Championships were held at Penn State. Since
we were going to compete on a national level and represent the university, K-State
paid for our travel and accommodations. Otherwise, we would carpool to compete at
the other schools. K-State also provided for our team warm-ups; they were purple polyester
with “KSU” on the back of the jacket.
Nationals was an incredible experience. It was my first commercial flight (in a Lockheed
L-1011 TriStar; I can’t forget it — it was huge!), first time in Pennsylvania, we
saw the movie The Sting, and we got to meet Donna de Verona. She swam in the 1960 Olympics at the age of
13 and competed again in the 1964 Olympics. She was the speaker at the pre-meet banquet
for all competitors and coaches and was so inspiring.
Along with the memories, I developed a lifelong friend. Heather Warren and I still
connect every once in a great while. I did not swim my sophomore year; a few of us
played on the women’s rugby team instead. Now that I’m retired, I swim four to five
times a week. We’re blessed to live in a neighborhood that has a nice size pool that
I can swim laps in!
T-shirts plus warm-up jacket
Nationals-bound competitors (L-R): Nancy Lee, Cindy Gill, Heather Warren, Barb Lee and Beth Kittelson
Pre-Nationals meet banquet
Autograph from Donna de Verona