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Caroline Bruce McAndrew

Inducted 2014

Caroline Bruce McAndrew

Caroline Bruce McAndrew Born: June 9, 1986 (Wichita, KS)
Graduated: Trinity Academy, 2004; Stanford University, 2008; Stanford University, M.A., 2009

Few across the country would guess that Stanford University swimming, one of the top collegiate programs in the country, has a direct pipeline for talent coming from the Sunflower State. Not only did 2006 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Catherine Fox migrate to Palo Alto to swim collegiately, but so did 2014 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Caroline Bruce McAndrew, from Wichita, Kansas.
Growing up in Wichita, Caroline was always active, playing tennis, track, gymnastics, soccer, and of course, swimming. A member of the Wichita Swim Club under the guidance of coach Eric Nelson, McAndrew perfected the skills that would propel her to the national and international stage.
By the time McAndrew graduated from Wichita Trinity Academy in 2004, she was already a well-known name in the world of swimming. The Kansas High School Swimmer of the Year in 2003 and 2004, McAndrew claimed eight individual state championships and was a member of six state champion relay teams.
Just months after graduating high school, Bruce competed in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and earned a spot on the 2004 Olympic team that competed in Athens, Greece. Only 18 years old, McAndrew competed well at the Olympics and finished ninth in the 200 meter breaststroke.
McAndrew then took her swimming talents to Stanford where she continued to shine. As a freshman in 2005, McAndrew won both the 100 and 200 meter NCAA breaststroke titles and five Pacific Ten Conference titles. She was the first Stanford swimmer to be named the Pac-10 Conference Women’s Newcomer of the Year in 2005 and was also the league’s Swimmer of the Year in 2005. McAndrew was also named a finalist for the Collegiate Women’s Sports Award Swimmer of the Year.
A shoulder injury kept McAndrew out of the pool in the 2006 season, but she returned to form following her medical redshirt year on her way to being named a four-time All-American selection in 2007. She claimed the Pac-10 200 meter breaststroke title once again and finished third in the NCAA National Championships in the same event.
In 2008, McAndrew was once again on top of the swimming world by adding another four All-American selections to her resume.
McAndrew’s career statistics are truly remarkable. A fourteen time state champion, a thirteen time All-American selection in five different events, a seven time Pac-10 Conference champion, a two-time NCAA Champion, and top finishes in several international competitions at the highest level, including the 2004 Olympics, the 2005 World University Games, and the 2005 World Championship Trials.
Perhaps the biggest way to witness the legacy of Caroline McAndrew is to look through the record books which still bare her record-setting performances. McAndrew still holds two Kansas State High School Meet records and ranks in the top ten in Stanford University history in four different events.
Although her time in the pool ended in 2008, McAndrew has stayed active in the swimming community by coaching the next generation of swimmers across the world, including stops with the U.S. Olympic Committee, Crestview Country Club, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, the Northern Beaches Christian School in Sydney, Australia, and the Wichita Swim Club.

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