“USC Unsung Heroes” is a column by Anthony Bottino that talks about elite USC athletes who aren’t on one of the school’s Division 1 teams.
USC is one of the most storied athletic institutions in the country. Year after year, it produces national champions and is home to countless Olympians. This holds true even for athletes outside of the normal Division 1 teams. While most of USC’s world-caliber athletes are involved in sports like track and field or water polo, Kali Wilding has achieved the same level of accomplishment in sprint kayaking.
Wilding, a 21-year-old junior, is double majoring in real estate development and business administration. The Hawaiian superstar comes from a lineage of great kayakers.
Originally born in Australia, Wilding moved to Hawaii during middle school. That’s where she first started kayaking. Growing up by the ocean, participating in water sports was a natural choice for her. Plus, her parents both competed nationally in kayaking.
Her parents were both born in Australia and competed for the country. Her mother went to the Olympics twice for Australia, and the main reason they moved to America was that her father became the coach of the national team. Her mother would soon follow suit and is now the U.S. women’s national team coach.
“My home life even before I started kayaking was very revolved around sports,” Wilding said. “It’s definitely a family thing. Even though I wasn’t into it when I was younger, I eventually fell into it. My parents’ passion carried down to me.”
It may seem like Wilding was destined to become a kayaker; however, growing up, her parents made it very clear that they did not want to pressure her into pursuing the sport. They wanted her to take part in the sport because she wanted to, not because they forced her, and that still remains true.
So, what was the change? What finally made Wilding decide to follow in her parents’ footsteps? Up until kayaking, she was mainly a gymnast and also tried out other sports. She began training with her mom and other kayakers for something fun to do and to stay in shape. Soon, the love she had for gymnastics faded away, and her interest in kayaking grew.
Her training in kayaking continued, and she made the U15 national team. This took her abroad to compete internationally. This is when a switch flipped in her, and she decided to start pursuing kayaking.
“After I got the opportunity to compete internationally, I saw how much it can teach you and all the places it can take you,” Wilding said. “Then I realized how much I really wanted to do it.”
Wilding had been competing with the U.S. junior national team since she was about 14 years old, and it wasn’t until two years ago that she had her first chance to compete on the senior team. She didn’t let the chance slip from her, as at the most recent national team trials, she had a stellar performance and won. This means she is the fastest sprint kayaker in the U.S. Following this, she became the K1 racer for the national team at international races.
Moving forward, Wilding has her sights set on international races like the Pan American Games and qualifying for the Olympics. However, representing America as a kayaker in the Olympics is an uphill battle. Currently, the U.S. has no spots for the Olympics, but Wilding has a chance to qualify at the Pan American Championships in April if she wins the K1 or K2 500-meter race. Before doing that, though, she has to re-qualify for the national team a month before.
Wilding’s dream is to compete at the Olympics, and with Paris coming up this summer, she is determined to make it. In the long term though, she is looking ahead to the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
“It would be my dream come true,” Wilding said. “The Olympics is the ultimate dream, and nothing would be more significant to me than to race in the Olympics, especially at home. Being someone who trains in L.A., it would be so special to race here. Getting to represent the U.S. in the U.S. would be so special, because we want to have representation and grow the sport in our home.”
With Wilding training multiple times a day and managing two majors, she has a lot to handle and needs a coach that knows her better than anyone else, and there’s no one better to do that than her mother. Wilding’s mother is the national team sprint coach and runs Ikaika, the program she trains with at home. This has brought them extremely close and gave them a very special bond different from most mother-daughter relationships.
“It’s super special to have her at every competition,” Wilding said. “It’s really cool to share the traveling and racing with her. It’s great to know she has my best interest at heart both as a mom and coach. She is so invested in my success, I can feel her passion for wanting me to succeed.”
Kayaking is clearly one of the most important things in Kali’s life, so how did it impact her decision when choosing USC? The first major reasoning is due to its proximity to the coast and the weather. There were lots of opportunities for her to continue training. Onto education, it checked all the boxes she was looking for, such as the real estate major and allowing for interdisciplinary studies. The final major factor was the vast USC network.
Training can be difficult at times, though. Since her sport requires the coast, she does have to make the drive on her own to places like Marina Del Rey and Newport Beach to train. She faces additional challenges since kayaking is not an NCAA sport, such as not getting support and benefits from the school. Even with the challenges, there is no college Wilding would rather be at.
“There are other schools that would be easier for me to train at, but I love the school, the values and the opportunities,” Wilding said. “It’s so cool to be part of such a diverse, talented and successful student body. It’s worth the extra driving and struggles.”
Wilding’s next competition is this week at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. With her mom in her corner, Wilding looks to take home more hardware and move one step closer to following her mom’s footsteps and becoming an Olympian. With the way things have been working out for her recently, though, it looks like we will be seeing Wilding representing the U.S.A. and USC this summer in Paris.
“USC Unsung Heroes” runs every other Monday.