INFLUX Magazine Spring 2024

Maeve O’Discoll, former University of Minnesota Swimmer,<br />

poses with her athletic apparel on March 19, <strong>2024</strong> in<br />

Minneapolis. Photo by Sadie Grunau<br />

Kimball Utsey poses, wearing her letter<br />

jacket in Minneapolis, on February 27,<br />

<strong>2024</strong>. Photo by Maya Modelli<br />

the swimming constantly in the back of<br />

my head.”<br />

O’Driscoll has found new passions in<br />

running, music and spending time with<br />

loved ones. She can also explore her<br />

professional life with internships and parttime<br />

jobs now.<br />

It’s not only athletes that experience<br />

this loss, of course. As college seniors<br />

wrap up their time here at the University<br />

of Minnesota, athletes or not, it can be<br />

difficult to understand where to go from<br />

here. It can feel as though life will never<br />

be as simple as it is now, and major parts<br />

of the person you have always been<br />

are seemingly gone after you cross that<br />

commencement stage in May.<br />

“Give yourself grace,” Utsey said.<br />

“This is a difficult time for everyone and<br />

as an athlete, you will experience a lot of<br />

changes, especially in your body.”<br />

Staying disciplined in terms of health<br />

can be hard when you no longer have a<br />

coach writing up workouts for you seven<br />

days a week. It can be difficult to find a<br />

type of movement that suits you following<br />

your time as an athlete.<br />

“I have learned that I love to run,”<br />

Utsey said. “It has brought me a lot of joy<br />

after my rowing career ended.”<br />

Lucas Mortenson, University of<br />

Minnesota men’s rowing Class of 2017, is<br />

further removed from his time in athletics.<br />

He graduated with a degree in urban<br />

planning and said goodbye to the sport he<br />

had dedicated many years of his life to.<br />

“It was a rude awakening. ‘Rower’ was<br />

always in the top three words I would use<br />

to describe myself so to have that be gone<br />

was confusing,” Mortenson said.<br />

Mortenson, upon his graduation, left<br />

behind teammates and friends and moved<br />

to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for a summer<br />

internship.<br />

“I would come back to the Twin Cities<br />

on the weekends and see my teammates,”<br />

Mortenson said. “I wanted to feel like I<br />

was still a part of the team.”<br />

Over the past seven years, Mortenson<br />

has learned that being a competitive<br />

athlete is not the most interesting thing<br />

about him. He has developed a love for<br />

running, has completed two marathons and<br />

actively keeps in touch with the friends he<br />

made on the team.<br />

“I have gone to many weddings of<br />

teammates over the years and it is always<br />

fun to reconnect with them,” Mortenson<br />

said. “I still keep a University of Minnesota<br />

rowing visor on one of the headrests of the<br />

backseat of my car, just to remember my<br />

time there and to show my pride.”<br />

Keiper describes how she, like<br />

Mortenson, has coped with the end of her<br />

athletic career.<br />

“I have just tried to take in every<br />

practice, competition and team bonding<br />

experience,” Keiper said.<br />

She has found a new sense of<br />

appreciation for her time as an athlete and<br />

has leaned into the lessons she has learned<br />

from the dance team, such as organization,<br />

time management and discipline.<br />

Utsey and O’Driscoll have both found<br />

ways to incorporate their sport into the last<br />

year of their college experience, despite no<br />

longer being a team member. Both young<br />

women make an active effort to spend time<br />

with teammates and continue to cultivate<br />

those relationships that began with their<br />

sport, no matter if it was in the boat or the<br />

pool. They have kept in touch and learned<br />

that, with effort, those relationships can<br />

continue to flourish, despite no longer<br />

attending practices, races and competitions.<br />

Whether a college senior wears the<br />

athlete tassel on their cap and gown in<br />

May or not, this next chapter can seem<br />

frightening for many. It also is a chance to<br />

explore their identity beyond the confines<br />

of this campus.<br />

“Have fun with it and explore<br />

new things. Keep your people<br />

close and find out what fills<br />

your cup again.”<br />

— LUCAS MORTENSON<br />

6 <strong>INFLUX</strong> MAGAZINE SPRING <strong>2024</strong> SPRING <strong>2024</strong> <strong>INFLUX</strong> MAGAZINE 7