Everything to know about Madison Mintenko’s seemingly infinite swimming potential comes from the rare times she loses.
Mintenko, one of the top swimming recruits in the nation in the Class of 2025 who is headed to compete at Virginia, only lost two races in her entire CHSAA career. Both defeats came as a freshman. So when she was runner-up in December in the 200-meter freestyle at the Winter Junior Championships West in Austin, she was seething.
“She’s very humble about (her rise), but I’ve also noticed, she hates to lose,” Rob Putnam, her club coach with Pikes Peak Athletics, said. “After she lost that 200-freestyle race, you could see she was pissed about it. She’s pretty quiet about (her disappointment), but she took her time in the cool-down pool afterward.
“Then, the very next morning, she dropped two seconds in her 100-freestyle and qualified first for finals, which she then won. She really made a statement the next morning at that meet. It showed she can quickly flip a switch.”
That mentality, in conjunction with impeccable technique, made Mintenko one of the greatest swimmers in CHSAA history — a prep career that was capped in historic fashion at the state meet this week in Thornton.
The Pine Creek senior broke Missy Franklin Johnson’s state record in the 500-yard freestyle in Thursday’s prelims by nearly two full seconds with a mark of 4 minutes, 39.89 seconds, then won her seventh and eighth individual state titles on Friday at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center in the 200- and 500-freestyle races.
With that, Mintenko became just the third female swimmer to go undefeated at the state meet in her individual events across all four years, joining Regis Jesuit’s Franklin Johnson and Cheyenne Mountain’s Anna Trinidad.
A driving force behind Pine Creek’s Class 4A state titles in 2023 and ’24, Mintenko led the Eagles to a fifth-place finish in 5A this year. In the process, she was .05 seconds off of breaking another Franklin Johnson state record in the 200-freestyle finals with a time of 1 minute, 43.2 seconds. For her performance, Mintenko was named CHSAA’s 5A Swimmer of the Year.
“She is in the top three swimmers of all time (in Colorado high school history),” Pine Creek coach Kent Nelson said. “Genetics (set her apart). Mom and Dad are both Olympians, and they passed on their work ethic and their love for the water.”
Lindsay Mintenko (nee Benko) won gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay in 2000 and 2004, and took silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in Athens as well.
She also was the world record holder for two years in the 400-meter freestyle. She later went on to become the first female to be the national team managing director for USA Swimming. Lindsay’s from a family of athletes. Her dad, Roger Benko, was a pitcher in the White Sox organization and her grandfather Dan Dimich played for John Wooden at Indiana State and is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, Madison’s dad, Mike Mintenko, also competed in the 2000 and ’04 Olympics. His best finish was fifth in the 100-meter butterfly in Sydney.
So as Madison aims to win NCAA Division I individual titles at Virginia, and also add to the program’s stuffed trophy case — the Cavaliers have won four championships in a row — she has her sights set on making the U.S. Olympic team for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. She doesn’t need to look far for a blueprint on how to achieve that goal.
“I think a lot about how much hard work my parents put in, and how much they know about the sport,” Madison Mintenko said. “I’m really thankful because they’ve helped me out so much in and out of the water. … They’ve been supportive and really let me find my own path.”
Lindsay says Madison is “way better than I ever was.” As Mike recalls, he knew his daughter was going to be a special talent as early as 10 years old, when he watched her swim in the backyard pool at a friend’s house.
“I filmed it and when I watched it back, it was like ‘Oh my gosh, her technique is identical to her mom’s,’” Mike Mintenko said. “She had that natural feel in the water like the best swimmers in the world do, even though she was just a kid then. As parents, we tried to keep her talent on the down-low, not really make a big deal about it, and we encouraged her to do other sports.
“But by the time she was 13, that’s when her talent became a lot harder to (downplay). She would go to meets and people would see a 13-year-old beating 17-year-olds, posting really good times. And by the time she was 15, she was on the Junior National Team.”
Madison swam in the U.S. Olympic Trials last June at Lucas Oil Stadium, where she proved she’s already tracking to be in contention for a spot in the 2028 Olympics. Making the Olympics would put her on the same stage as Colorado’s two most famous female swimmers in Franklin Johnson (five-time gold medalist) and Cherry Creek alum Amy Van Dyken-Rouen (six-time gold medalist).
The 17-year-old Mintenko made the semifinals in the 200 freestyle in Indianapolis and took eighth in the 400 freestyle finals. That latter race was a disappointment to her, considering she came into the heat seeded sixth. But just as she would do in Austin later that year, Mintenko came back with a strong performance in her next race to advance past the 200 freestyle prelims.
“After the 400 finals, I was reminded by my coach that I had nothing to lose going into it,” Mintenko said. “That comment helped me through the process of getting over that race and getting ready for the next ones, and realizing that this is a long journey I’m on and that I still have years to get ready (to make the U.S. team in 2028).”
Those closest to her believe the swimmer will continue to drop her times to achieve that goal.
“I want to be (in L.A.) to watch her,” said her teammate and friend, Lily Kemmerer. “And from what we’ve all seen the last four years, we all believe she can get there.”
