Two program records. Two pool records. Fourteen event wins.
And none of those compare to what has made the 2024-2025 season so special for BYU swimmer Mackenzie Miller Lung.
Miller Lung's career as a swimmer had an atypical start, to say the least.
"I am the oldest of six kids," she said. "Surprisingly, none of them are swimmers. I didn't start seriously swimming until basically the summer before my sophomore year."
Miller Lung grew up in Clovis, California, and started swimming in middle school to stay in shape for other sports like basketball and water polo. She made the varsity swim team at Clovis East High School and qualified for the Central Valley regional meet as a freshman, a surprising turn of events for her.
"This is my first big race, and if you get top two, then you get to go to State," she said.
She got third.
"It was exactly what I needed," Miller Lung said. "I'm standing on the podium crying, and I get down, and the club coach for the closest swim club comes up to me. He's like, 'You're an amazing swimmer. I will see you at practice on Monday.' So that weekend, I quit the basketball team and the water polo team, and I joined the club."
The fish-out-of-water experience wouldn't last for Miller Lung, leaving high school with a swimming resume that got the attention of Division I programs like Alabama and Arizona State before she committed to BYU.
"I was always drawn to the culture here," Miller Lung said. "Swim isn't the end-all be-all. As much as I love it, there's life after swimming. And I think BYU sets its athletes up the best ... to succeed outside of school and swim."
Competing in the pool hinges on being better than your previous time or the people on either side of you. There is a drive to be faster. To be sharper. To train harder. In some cases, this need to improve can discourage instead of motivate. For Miller Lung, that's what her first year and a half swimming at BYU felt like.
Sophomore year, BYU faced Utah. She was struggling with the fact that her personal best events were during her freshman year, and she was seeing little progress toward overtaking them.
"I was like, I don't know what I'm doing wrong," she said. "I'm working hard every day, like, I'm trying my best. I'm struggling so much. I don't know what else to do."
Things started to change when she had a conversation with her husband, Tanner, that weekend.
"My husband was like, 'Well, do you think maybe taking a step back and just being like, okay, one more year, will be better for you?' And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that would change my entire perspective.' Instead of being halfway there, it's like, wait, I only have one more season, I need to give it my all ... having that light at the end of the tunnel, I was like, I can do this."
And she did. Her times in the 100 and 200 breast were personal bests at the very same meet. She also contributed to the winning time for the 200 medley relay.
Miller Lung's newfound outlook on swimming allowed her to focus on what she loves instead of what she doesn't.
"I've built such a better relationship with all my teammates that even on the days where my body hurts and I'm tired, I'm so excited to go to practice to see all the people I love," she said. "Even if I don't swim faster during [a] practice, I know that I'll get to be in a lane with one of my best friends and that we're gonna chat the whole time.
"Seeing all the people around me doing great and then knowing that, they're working hard and they're hurting, so I can work hard and I can hurt for their sake. And I honestly, the mindset of looking towards other people rather than feeling 'Woe is me' and self-pity has been so much better for my mental health and my performance."
The numbers back up Miller Lung's new perspective on swimming. She wrapped up her final regular season with fourteen event wins.
She also holds the BYU record in the 50 and 200 breast and sits at second place all-time for the 100 breast. She broke the record this season in Dallas, Texas.
SHE DID THAT 💅🏽 pic.twitter.com/CVYzTJ3WEX
— BYU Swim and Dive (@BYUSwim_Dive) November 22, 2024
While the accolades are certainly nice, Miller Lung's favorite part of winning doesn't have much to do with her at all.
"My favorite part of winning is seeing the look on my teammates' faces," she said. "It really just warms my heart. Even though swim is hard sometimes, I just love, love, love the people I get to swim with every day. And I cannot stress that enough. I love them so much.
"There's so many hard things that will happen in everyone's life. But you really need to cling to the good things. Even when I'm having a bad day, getting to see the smile on all my friends' or in my teammates' faces is literally the best thing ever. They're like my family, and I want them all to succeed so much. I love them. I can talk for an hour about what I love about my team."
Miller Lung will be going up with the men's and women's teams on Feb. 25 for the Big 12 Championships before potentially qualifying for the national meet in March.
Funnily enough, all the remaining events on the Cougars' schedule will be in Federal Way, Washington — and she's swam there before.
"It was my second meet ever," she said. "Full circle."