A two-time American record holder, Mary DeScenza-Mohler has continued to redefine herself and her career for over a decade. In a sport where a world record and a bad swim lay only a fraction of a second apart, she has not only endured, but championed.

Representing the United States in her fifth world championships in Rome, Italy in the summer of 2009, DeScenza-Mohler quickly set the bar during the preliminaries of the 200m butterfly, lowering the world record in the event by .04 with an outstanding 2:04.14. The time shattered her previous best of 2:07.13. The record was lowered further in the finals, and although she placed fourth overall, DeScenza-Mohler cherished the opportunity to hold the fastest time ever in the event. To cap off her 2009 season, she represented Team USA in the Duel in the Pool in Manchester, England, where she won the 200m butterfly in 2:04.78.

Prior to the world championships and the Duel in the Pool, DeScenza-Mohler captured the 2008-2009 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series with an astounding total 20 gold medals. Competing in eight different events throughout the series, she distinguished herself among her competitors as one of the most versatile females currently in the sport. Her appearance in the series was highlighted at the 2009 Southern California Grand Prix where she rewrote the American short course record in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:51.28.

In 2008, DeScenza-Mohler beganon a high note at the 9^th FINA World Swimming Championships in Manchester, England. Taking home USA’s first individual gold of the meet, she went 2:04.27 in the 200m butterfly, breaking Mary T. Meagher’s American Record dating back to 1981.

Later in the year, DeScenza-Mohler placed 4^th in the 200m butterfly and 6^th in the 100m butterfly at the USA Olympic Team Trials, narrowly missing a qualifying spot. Bouncing back from disappointment, she went on to become a 5-time national champion at the 2008 Conoco Phillips Short Course National Championships in December. With her outstanding performance as the high-point scorer of the meet with 117 points, USA Swimming honored her with the 2008 National Kiphoth Award.

DeScenza-Mohler is no stranger to repeating successes on the national level. Swimming for the University of Georgia Bulldogs from 2002-2006, she became one of the program’s most decorated members. In 2005, she helped lead the team to a 2005 national championship title. Participating on four of the five winning relays at the meet, she also captured two of her individual events (100y and 200y butterfly). She became only the second swimmer in history to win the 200y butterfly at the NCAA Championships, and is a 28-time NCAA All-American. In her final year at Georgia she recognized as the nation’s top collegiate female swimmer, receiving the 2006 Honda Award Winner.

DeScenza-Mohler wed in 2009 and has switched her training base from Athens, Georgia to Japan, where her husband is stationed with the military.