Olympian Gabrielle Rose was working her way back into the swimming world.
After making the Olympics in 1996 and 2000, she missed out in 2004 and the disappointment kept her away from the pool.
But a recent project close to home got her back involved in the sport.
“I have been working on, the past five years, saving the only Olympic sized pool in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. It was something my dad was working on before he passed away in 2017,” Gabrielle Rose said at the USMS Spring Championships. “I took that on and it really helped me reconnect with swimming.
“That immersed me in the Swimming World and ended up being really healing. Not making the 2004 Olympic team, there were feelings of shame and disappointment, and I just wanted to withdraw myself from the swimming world.”
After that, the next step was getting back in the water competitively.
“Masters allowed me to have my own outlet,” she said.
And she thrived.
Rose, swimming for Santa Barbara Masters, broke five Masters World Records in the short-course championships during the weekend, in the 45-49 age group.
“A lot of things coming full circle in my life,” Rose said. “Last summer, I finally got back in a long-course pool for the first time in a long time. It brought me back to really good memories with Dick Fadgen in Memphis. He passed away last May and I was reconnecting with what he brought to my life.”
Now, the Olympic-sized pool in Memphis that Rose helped save, had its grand re-opening as the Dick Fadgen Pool.
“We just celebrated the opening two weeks ago,” she said.
Rose celebrated in the water with some stellar swims in Irvine, California.
She set 45-49 records in the 50 breaststroke (28.92), 100 breaststroke (1:01.63), 200 IM (2:03.62), 50 freestyle (23.75), 200 breaststroke (2:15.71), 100 IM (56.20) and 50 breaststroke (28.54).
It was a new wave of her spectacular career.
A Brazilian-American, Rose competed for Brazil in the 1996 Olympics, then the U.S. in 2000, finishing seventh in the 200 IM in Sydney.
Rose is a former Brazilian record holder of the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter individual medley.
Now, she is coaching youth swimming and feeling reconnected to the sport on all levels.
“It give so much back,” Rose said. “We are adults now and you make your meaning for success in the pool. It is a reflection with what you have going on in your life. The racing brings out the best in you. Everyone has their own journey.”
And Gabrielle Rose’s journey isn’t over yet.
Amazing, Wow. I won the mens 50 yard breast when I was 49 at SeaTac in 1997, and this amazing ladies time is faster.
Wow fast times! Well done for getting back your mojo.
I had the absolute pleasure of training and competing with Gabrielle when she swam with the Chicago Smelts a number of years ago. She was a good friend and teammate, a treasure trove of technical knowledge, and was a wonderful inspiration to all of us Smelts!
I’m coming back too. 68 and missed the water so so much. 40 years. What was I thinking!!!!!
Rose, congratulations on following your dream, destiny and God’s gift to you in the water. Ben Baum Miami Beach, FL