How I Wrote "Into the Light"

A breakdown of how I wrote my award-winning story on a college swimmer who battled mental illness to win an NCAA championship.

Last year, I won two awards for a story I wrote about Maddy Banic, a University of Tennessee swimmer who won a gold medal at the 2019 NCAA finals—her first and only national championship, in her last competition as a collegiate swimmer, after battling through years of mental health issues.

With the focus being put on mental health in sports after tennis …