LINFIELD UNIVERSITY SWIMMING VERSUS LEWIS & CLARK • JANUARY 23, 2026

WILDCAT SPOTLIGHT

ENJOYING THE PROCESS

One of the most accomplished women in program history, Kirsti Keppo is focusing not only on faster times, but on simply having fun

by NATASHA FREIMUTH ’29

Kirsti Keppo was 6 years old the first time she realized she wanted to be a competitive swimmer. When their usual Saturday routine of swimming during recreational hours was interrupted by a local club’s swim meet, rather than leaving, Keppo and her dad wandered into the stands to watch. While she doesn’t remember a single race or time from that afternoon, a feeling settled in as she watched swimmers dive from the blocks and slice through the water and it stuck with her.

“I don’t know what happened in my mind,” Keppo says, looking back. “I just remember thinking, ‘I really want to do that.’”

That curiosity turned into a lifelong pursuit. Now a senior distance swimmer at Linfield University, Keppo has become one of the most accomplished athletes in the program’s history, her name scattered across the school’s record book, her presence anchoring a small, but formidable distance group, and her leadership shaping a team culture built on connection.

Growing up in Eugene, Keppo loved the water. Her parents couldn’t pull her out of the pool as a toddler, and weekend recreational swims quickly became routine. After that moment in the stands, she marched up to lifeguards and asked how she could become “one of the swimmers diving off the blocks.” From swim lessons to pre-competitive teams, she moved quickly, propelled more by instinct than ambition.

“I feel like I’ve always loved swimming,” she says. “But I started competitively because I watched other people do it and wanted to be part of that.”

Ironically, distance swimming wasn’t always part of the plan. At 11 or 12, Keppo remembers being furious when a club coach entered her in a long race. She wanted to do the 50-yard freestyle, a single sprint down the length of the pool and back, not lap after lap of endurance.

“I was so mad,” she says. “I didn’t want to do something 10 times longer.”

Her coach saw something Keppo didn’t recognize yet: her stamina. Keppo swam the mile and earned a state-meet qualifying mark her first time out. She found her stride amongst the distance events, and once she got to college, the pieces fully aligned.

At Linfield, Keppo began training specifically for distance every day. The structure transformed her from a swimmer who raced distance into one who thrived in it. As a freshman, she stunned the field by winning “the mile,” also known as the 1,650 freestyle, a performance that reshaped her expectations of herself.

“I came in hoping I’d get faster in college,” she says. “Winning that race showed me what I was capable of.”

She followed it with school records in the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle and earned Northwest Conference Swimmer of the Year honors as a sophomore, an award she would go on to repeat her junior year. But Keppo’s growth at Linfield hasn’t been limited to times and titles.

College swimming demanded a mental shift. Coming from a cutthroat club environment where personal bests defined success, Keppo struggled early with the team-first mindset of collegiate competition.

“I remember my first meet my freshman year and I was so upset about my time,” she says. “My coach kept telling me it didn’t matter then; it mattered what we did in February at conference.”

That lesson stuck. As Keppo settled into the program, she became not just a reliable scorer but a leader. Now a senior, she’s often the veteran athlete freshmen turn to during practice, asking how many repetitions are left or what interval the group is on. More importantly, she’s intentional about creating the support system she once lacked.

“I try to be the mentor I didn’t really have,” Keppo says. “I want underclassmen to feel included from Day 1.”

Her leadership is especially visible within Linfield’s distance group, a small trio that trains together daily. As the only female distance swimmer, Keppo has embraced the role, setting the tone for consistency and accountability.

That discipline extends beyond the season. Unlike larger programs, Division III athletes don’t always have structured offseason training. For Keppo, that meant early mornings alone, swimming thousands of yards staring at that black line at the bottom of the pool, lifting weights without a team around her, while balancing internships and training on her own time.

“I love structure,” she says. “So I learned to hold myself accountable.”

Outside the pool, Keppo is a marketing major drawn to the balance of creativity and analytics. An internship in product marketing for a tech company helped her connect classroom concepts to real-world applications. She hopes to eventually work in sports marketing, a natural extension of a life shaped by athletics.

Her parents, Paul and Deborah, remain her foundation. They attend nearly every meet, offering encouragement regardless of outcome.

“They’ve always told me they’re proud of me, whether I win or lose,” Keppo says. “That support has meant everything.”

As her final season unfolds, Keppo is chasing goals including rebreaking her mile record and defending her conference titles. At the same time, she’s also learning to slow down and appreciate what’s left of her college career.

“One of my goals this year is just to have fun,” she says. “To enjoy the process.”

It’s a fitting mindset for a swimmer who started simply by watching, wondering what it would feel like to dive in, and never looked back.