Hall of Fame video
In the storied history of the Drury Women’s Swimming/Diving program, it is rare that one of its student-athletes is inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. That rarity is realized today as Agnieszka Ostrowska is being inducted only five years after a dominant two-year career in which she led the Drury women to back-to-back NCAA-II national championships: 2013 and 2014. It may be no coincidence that those were the last team titles claimed by the women’s team. “Aggie” was a dominant force and an integral reason Drury won the team titles both years.
In 2014 Aggie was named Drury’s Most Valuable Swimmer at the national meet. That year she broke several national and school records, highlighted by the record-breaking performance at the national meet in the 200 breast (2:11.45). She was also part of two national record-breaking relay squads, the 200 Medley Relay (1:40.45) and the 400 Medley Relay (3:39.29). That same year she set two individual school records with third place finishes at nationals in the 100 Breast (1:01.68) and the 200 IM (2:00.46) and she placed second in the 400 IM (4:16.72). During the regular season she set Breech Pool records in the 100 Breast, the 200 Breast and the 400 IM. Aggie was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s (GLVC) female swimmer of the year by winning three individual events and breaking the pool record in all three. It was at that meet that she first set the national record in the 200 Breast. As previously stated, she was a dominant force.
She played a significant role the year before in leading her team to the 2013 NCAA-II national championship. That year she competed in six events and had four Top 10 finishes, highlighted by a Drury team record-setting time of (2:13.84) in the 200 Breast and a second place finish. Over her outstanding two-year career, Aggie was a three-time NCAA-II National Champion and a 12-time NCAA-II All-American. She accounted for 158.5 points in the two national championships.
Aggie was not just a swimming talent. She was much more than that and her winning attitude was contagious. Panther head swimming coach, Brian Reynolds, fondly remembers. “Without question Aggie was one of the most respected swimmers on our team. She was a leader and a friend to her teammates. She was always striving to be the best athlete she could be, but at the same time, with a huge smile on her face, she was always uplifting her teammates along the way.”
Aggie came to Drury from Rawicz, Poland where she was a multi-medalist for the Polish Junior and Senior National Teams. She was a representative for Poland at the World Championship in Rome in 2009 and competed in the short course European Championships held in Istanbul in 2009 and Budapest in 2010. Prior to her arrival at Drury, she helped Poland claim three gold medals in the Senior Polish Nationals and was on two Polish gold medal winning Junior National teams in 2008.
An honor student while at Drury (3.416 grade point average), Aggie immediately followed her Panther career by returning to her native country and is now in a doctoral program in physical education. But she has returned to her college “home” today and is accompanied by friends from Poland and Springfield. Aggie shares this moment with people who have played significant roles in her life and it is in their presence and that of the Drury Community that on this day, Saturday, January 11, 2020, Agnieszka Ostrowska is being forever enshrined as a member of the Drury Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2019).
NOTE:
Aggie is completing her doctoral studies and hopes to have her PhD. in Physical Education later this year. She has authored a few publications in resistance training for swimming, in both Polish and English, and has also lectured at national and international academic conferences. Upon her return to Poland in 2014, and prior to her doctorate program, Aggie earned her masters degree in finance/accounting. She continues to swim and in 2014 reclaimed her national championship in the 200 breast.
