Consistency? University of Idaho junior swimmer Ginger Kiefer has it down to a stroke.
From the time she stepped onto campus, Kiefer has taken the swimming world by storm with her wide range of talents in the water, establishing herself as one of the most valuable swimmers the Vandals have.
Kiefer showcased another incredible performance this past weekend as the team split up, with the diving squad heading to the USC Trojan Invitational while she and other swimmers stayed in the Gem State for the NW Collegiate Invite in Boise.
Kiefer started strong with an outstanding 200-yard individual medley, taking first place with a time of 2:00.87. She then competed in the 200- and 400-yard medley relays alongside teammates Courtney Crawford, Madelynn Butler and Isabella Borke. The team finished second in the 400 (3:45.41) and third in the 200 (1:44.27).
Kiefer returned to the pool for one of her best events, the 200-yard backstroke, where she was the only swimmer to finish under two minutes, touching the wall at 1:58.62 to claim her second first-place finish of the weekend.
The Bend, Oregon native has been breaking records and winning events since arriving in Moscow, with her breakout season coming last year as a sophomore. During her 2024-25 season, she shattered five records in five different events: the 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard IM, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard IM, 500-yard freestyle and 1,000-yard freestyle.
To cap off her outstanding sophomore campaign, she was named the Western Athletic Conference 2025 Swimmer of the Year and claimed the Open Water Championship title with a time of 1:05:36. She was also nominated as the North Idaho College Female Athlete of the Year.
Kiefer’s talent and excellence have been on display since her first swim at the UI swim center, and head coach Mark Sowa is confident the rising star will continue to improve.
“Ginger puts a lot of expectations on herself, and all we do is expect Ginger to be Ginger,” Sowa said. “She needs to remember to be herself. When she does that, she’s going to have an even better junior year this year.”