Isabelle Stadden had been a child protege in the pool, representing the USA on the international stage multiple times over, accruing numerous accolades well before she even reached college. Attending Cal Berkeley, Stadden continued to rake in awards and honors, becoming an NCAA All-American many times over during her 5 seasons with the Golden Bears. Weeks after completing her undergraduate degree, Stadden competed at the 2025 US World Trials. In what was supposed to be a springboard for her pro career, Stadden had what she says was one of the worst meets of her life. Her performances in Indianapolis were lackluster and resulted in her first time missing the USA National Team in 7 seasons. After that, Stadden took a long time away from the pool. 6 months removed from her last competition, the Minnesota native decided to give it one more go around, this time doing it for herself rather than feeling the external pressures of performing for a team or to satisfy others' expectations. She moved to arguably the top women's program in the country, the University of Virginia, to train under the 2024 Olympic women's head coach, Todd DeSorbo. Just 4 months into training in Charlottesvillle, she went a 2:05.9 in the 200 back in early March, dropping over a second off of her previous PB of 2:07.28 set in May of 2021. 7 weeks later at the Ft Lauderdale Open, Stadden struck gold again, touching in 2:04.37, becoming the #4 performer in history and #1 in the world this year. Listen to Stadden as she shares her perspective on returning to her sport refreshed, reenergized, and ready for more, looking towards the end of the summer and beyond.
