Growing up, senior McKay King was always a BYU fan, mostly because his dad played football there. When deciding what school he wanted to swim for in college, King picked BYU, because he knew many swimmers on the team already and because of his dad.
In college, the rivalry between Utah and BYU wasn’t different from what it was like growing up, King said about the time he spent as a Cougar, adding that he didn’t like the U when he was a student at BYU. But since King is finishing up his collegiate career at Utah, the tables have turned.
“[The rivalry] is interesting because I’ve spent my whole life on the other side of the rivalry, not liking Utah, but now I feel kind of the opposite,” King said. “It’s funny how it can just switch like that, but I dislike BYU. I want to beat BYU even more so given the situation of my transfer and everything that has happened.”
Life as a Ute is something King has been waiting to be a part of for a while now. King said it wasn’t until after his sophomore year he thought about transferring. But a few months after he declined to swim his senior year at BYU, he decided to transfer.
I’ve spent my whole life on the other side of the rivalry, not liking Utah, but now I feel kind of the opposite.
“There were a lot of things I disagreed with among the coaching staff and the way things ran,” King said. “But, rather than complain about it and not do anything, I decided to be active and actually do something. I decided to go out and make it happen.”
Utah won King over in the end because of the students he swam with over the summer and the good things he had heard about the coaching staff. King added that one of his friends was on the coaching staff at Utah and had swam for BYU. King asked him what school he would have chosen if he could do it all over again and Utah was the answer.
“[Utah] is awesome. I definitely love it here,” King said. “I love swimming here. I enjoy it more than I ever have. By far, this is the most fun I have had in my college experience. I definitely feel a lot more accepted here. I feel closer to the team here than I did at BYU.”
Luckily for King, he already knew one person on the team when he transferred to the U — his sister, McKenna, which he said helped make his transition easier.
“McKay and I are really close,” McKenna said. “He has just given me that extra support and motivation to keep going and to keep working hard even when I get tired or if I don’t swim very well. “To be able to look over in the next lane and just see him, it is comforting in a way.”
This isn’t the first time McKay has swam with his sibling on a college team. Back at BYU, McKay swam with his older brother, Michael. McKay and his brother have always been close and swimming on the same team was an unforgettable experience. McKay added that the reason he stayed at BYU his junior year was because his brother was team captain.
“At the end of the day, we always had someone there we were close to and I think it made us better,” Michael said. “And it helped us keep our goals in the front of our mind.”
Since Mckay and Michael went to BYU, McKenna considered going to BYU like her brothers and her dad. However, after her recruiting trip to Utah, she found that she liked Utah more.
“[Utah] is constantly improving,” McKenna said. “My biggest thing was that I wanted to feel needed and wanted, and Utah did that for me. I knew that [I] wasn’t just going to be wasted space on the team. They wanted me here, and they saw my potential, and that what was really nice.”
When Michael was going through his recruiting process, he had also considered going to the U. Utah did recruit Michael out of high school, but when he returned from his LDS mission, Utah had changed coaches. Even though he made the decision to go to BYU, Michael feels that he would have liked it if he went to Utah.
“When I was on my mission, I decided [Utah] was where I was going to go and with the whole change over, I was still planning on going there, but it just didn’t work out,” Michael said. “I just wanted to swim. I wanted to compete and wherever I went, I just wanted to get in the water. That happened to be at BYU.”
Michael added that since his brother is now a Ute, he is happy for McKay because it’s a change of scenery that will allow him to tap into his potential.
“I would say I am a Utah swimming fan now,” Michael said. “When it comes down to swimming, it’s family first, so I’ll cheer for Utah swimming, and I have no problem with that.”
With the full support of his family, McKay is excited for his senior year, especially the the meet against BYU.
“I feel like all it comes down to is swimming,” Mckay said. “I’m here to hopefully make the team feel better. I’ve been accepted here, and I’m happy about where I am, and I think everyone is happy that I’m here as well.”
Utah will compete against BYU in a relays-only meet on Thursday, Sept. 22 in Provo, UT.
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