As a child, 19-year-old Erin Gemmell of Potomac, Maryland, didn’t know that someday she’d compete alongside her idol — fellow Montgomery County native swimmer Katie Ledecky — to earn a medal for the U.S. women’s national team at the Olympic Games.
But that’s exactly what Gemmell did in Paris this month, anchoring the team during the 4x200m freestyle relay on Aug. 2 and scoring the silver.
To ring in her homecoming, Gemmell joined young athletes at Potomac Woods Swim Club in Rockville, where she trained for nine years.
Kids peppered Gemmell with questions — including some about D.C.-area superstar Ledecky, who hails from Bethesda.
“I think it’s crazy that I went from dressing up as her for Halloween to being on a relay with her,” Gemmell said of Ledecky, adding that she sported the costume when she was in third grade.
Not only was competing alongside Ledecky a surreal experience for Gemmell, but she told the crowd she’s still processing her own silver medal.
“It’s kind of crazy just to have it,” she said. “Like, ‘Oh, let me go in my dining room and there’s an Olympic silver medal in there.'”
Young swimmers also wanted to know Gemmell’s favorite stroke: “Freestyle, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for butterfly,” she replied.
Gemmell also offered advice to Potomac Woods’ youth members, stressing the importance of perseverance as a competitive swimmer.
“There’s gonna be some bad races,” she said. “You just have to keep going and eventually it’ll get better, and you’ll get better and just keep going up and up and up.”
Of course, the kids made sure to test Gemmell’s loyalty to her roots now that she’s an Olympic medalist. One young swimmer asked if Gemmell belonged to any other pool clubs when she was growing up.
And Gemmell passed their test, saying, “This has been my only pool here. Potomac Woods forever.”
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