Katarzyna "Kasia" Wasick (born Wilk; 22 March 1992) is a Polish

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in sprint freestyle. Wasick represented Poland at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

as well as other international meets. She is the fastest female swimmer in Poland holding

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

in the 50 and 100 freestyle (short course & long course).

Career

After graduating from high school, Wasick trained in Poland with her brother Robert Wilk at the AZS AWF Katowice swim club before the 2012 Olympics in London. After the Olympic Games she went on to study at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

where she swam for coach Dave Salo for four years. Wasick has shown great individual scoring ability while lending a strong hand on relays. She’s a twelve-time All-American and has scored four times individually at the NCAA Championships and is a six-time career Pac-12 finalist. At the 2016 NCAA Championships, she posted career bests with a third in the 100y freestyle. She also led off USC’s first place 400y free relay that set a school record. After the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro she retired from swimming due to injury. In 2018 she made a comeback to competitive swimming, first starting with the Las Vegas Masters team. She holds two American masters records in the 50 and 100 freestyle (25-29 age group short course yards records). Later in 2018 she joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Pro Group coached by Ben Loorz and Patrick Ota. At the 2020 Olympic Games in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

held in 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Wasick placed 5th in the 50m freestyle final. Later that year she won silver medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle as well as bronze medals in the 4x50 m freestyle relay and 4x50m mixed freestyle relay at the

2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) were held in Kazan, Russia from 2 to 7 November 2021 at the Palace of Water Sports The Palace of Water Sports (; tt-Cyrl, Су спорт төрләре сара) is an indoor aquatics ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, Russia. She finished the year earning a bronze medal in 50m freestyle at the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

in December. In 2022, she won the silver medal in the 50m freestyle at the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

in Budapest becoming the second Polish female swimmer, after

Otylia Jędrzejczak Otylia Jędrzejczak (; born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She was the Olympic champion from 2004 Athens in the 200 metre butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and also swam at the 2000 Summ ...

, to win a long course world championship medal.

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

2019

Wasick competed for the

Cali Condors The Cali Condors are a professional swimming club and one of the original eight clubs of the International Swimming League. The team is based in San Francisco led by general manager Jason Lezak and head coach Gregg Troy. Assistant Coaches for the ...

in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

season of

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

and reached the finals at

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

2020

Kasia Wasick swam for the

New York Breakers NY Breakers is a professional swimming club and one of the original eight clubs of the global International Swimming League (ISL) based in New York City led by general manager, Tim Teeter and head coach, Martin Truijens. The ISL is owned by Kons ...

and reached the semi final. She won three times in the 50 m freestyle at the Solidarity Camp in Budapest.

2021

She was drafted to compete for

Toronto Titans Toronto Titans is one of the two new teams for the professional International Swimming League 2020 season, announced in December 2019, taking the total number of teams in the league to ten. Toronto Titans is based in Toronto, Ontario and trains ou ...

as their first pick in the draft.

Personal life

Her father, Zbigniew Wilk, is a former boxer. Kasia has three siblings, two elder brothers who also practice swimming and a sister who competed in track and field. She says her brothers inspired and motivated her to take up swimming. She received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from the

. She currently lives with her husband, Matthew Wasick, in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasick, Katarzyna Polish female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of Poland Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kraków 1992 births Living people European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics USC Trojans women's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) 20th-century Polish women 21st-century Polish women

Career

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

2019

2020

2021

Personal life

See also

References