Olympic gold. There’s a lot to smile about. Photo: @kaleighgilchrist/Instagram
Editor’s note: Kaleigh Gilchrist is a professional surfer and Olympic water polo player who also happens to be an Inertia contributor. Team USA women’s water polo recently clinched the gold in Rio, and we reached out to get a sense of her emotions surrounding the achievement – and also about how she managed to balance surfing and water polo. Below is her response.
Winning the gold medal was the greatest day of my life! This team has sacrificed so much to become the best in the world. It’s hard to describe the overwhelming rush of emotions as that buzzer went off… so much joy! I’ve let the title of Olympic champion sink in a little bit more and I can’t help but think of all my amazing teammates and coaches. We couldn’t have done it without each other. Everyone has sacrificed something for the greater good of this team.
One of my sacrifices has definitely been surfing. Although I still surfed multiple times a week, sometimes in between double trainings (my coach never liked that much, haha) I never could commit 100%. The surfing and water polo balance has always been a struggle, but I’ve never been able to give up one or the other because I love them both so much. During college I was on the brink of giving water polo up, quitting school and attempting a run on the circuit, but I decided to stick with polo and it was probably the best decision I’ve made! Even during my first invite on the national team during the summer of 2013 I emailed my coach, Adam, telling him I couldn’t commit that summer due to a few surf contests and I hoped to get invited back in the fall. Once I got that second chance I knew it was time to go after this lifelong dream of becoming an Olympic champion and put my surfing dream on hold.
I was ecstatic to hear the news about surfing in Tokyo in 2020. Even more exciting hearing it in Rio! I know I have a lot of catching up to do if I want to reach that goal, but something I’ve learned through this journey is that anything is possible with hard work, dedication and a good attitude.
Now time to search for some waves in Rio!
