Olympian alumnae trio from Maryland Catholic high school makes swimming history in Paris

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Olympian alumnae trio from a Catholic high school in suburban Washington achieved greatness and made history during their swimming events at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

They have inspired hope, pride and joy not only for their alma mater — Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Md. — but also for fans of the school’s Gators throughout the Archdiocese of Washington and beyond.

During the July 27-Aug. 4 swimming events, the hometown athletes — Katie Ledecky, Phoebe Bacon and Erin Gemmell — swam in several electrifying races, with Ledecky winning her 14th Olympic medal and adding two more top medals to her record-setting collection of nine golds; Gemmell earning a silver medal in a 4×200-meter freestyle relay; and a strong fourth-place finish for Bacon, narrowly missing a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke by .04 seconds.

Ledecky swimming in her fourth consecutive Olympics won a total of four medals in seven days: gold in her signature races — the women’s 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle events; a silver in the 4×200-meter relay alongside teammate Gemmell; and a bronze in the 400-meter women’s freestyle race. Following these wins in Paris, Ledecky became the most decorated U.S. female Olympian in history.

“Katie, Phoebe and Erin are a great source of pride for the Stone Ridge community,” wrote Catherine Ronan Karrels, the head of Stone Ridge School, who traveled to Paris to cheer on her former students and represent their school at the Games.

“It is an honor and a great joy to be part of the community here to support them,” Karrels said in an email interview with the Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper.

For their races, Karrels was in the viewing stands of the swimming stadium — the Paris La Defense Arena. She wrote that it was a thrill of a lifetime and such fun to witness in person the Gator Olympians swim at the highest level.

“I love seeing Katie, Phoebe and Erin swim, because I also know how passionate they are for the sport and for the community that they have built for themselves,” Karrels said. “It is incredibly inspirational to see these three alumnae competing on the world stage. It takes such hard work, dedication, persistence and consistency to compete at their level. It also requires uncommon grace under pressure, focus and resolve.”

Karrels was able to give Ledecky a quick congratulatory hug after her 800-meter gold medal ceremony Aug. 3. Ledecky is the first female Olympian to win the same event four times in a row.

Ahead of the games, Karrels visited St. Francis Xavier Church which houses a reliquary for the Society of the Sacred Heart foundress, St. Madeline Sophie Barat, and Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, where she prayed for the athletes. Stone Ridge School is sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

“I was able to light candles for Katie, Phoebe and Erin individually, as well as all Sacred Heart Olympians and the broader Sacred Heart community,” she said.

On July 25, more than 600 enthusiastic Stone Ridge Gator fans of all ages — many wearing specially-designed Bacon/Gemmell/Ledecky Team USA Olympic T-shirts showing a figure swimming beneath the Eiffel Tower — turned out in full force to the Bethesda campus of the all-girls k-12 Catholic school.

Stone Ridge sold more than 2,000 T-shirts prior to the Olympics and the alumnae athletes’ family and friends in attendance could be seen wearing them in the Paris swimming venue stands during their races.

Congratulatory messages from all over the world filled Stone Ridge’s social media pages during the week of amazing swim races.

Closer to home, Kate Rodgers of Silver Spring, Maryland, posted on the school’s Facebook page, “While having the swims of lifetime, they have brought so much joy, love and excitement to our community. I am so proud to know and cheer on these fellow Stone Ridge girls!” Another supporter wrote, “Such grace in those girls from His Heart.”

“The Catholic Schools Office is excited to cheer on our incredible #ADWcommUNITY Olympic alumnae athletes: Katie Ledecky ’15, Phoebe Bacon ’20 and Erin Gemmell ’23!” was posted on the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the ADW Catholic Schools Facebook pages last week.

While it is not uncommon for swimmers from the same college to be named to an Olympic team together, it is nearly unprecedented for three athletes who attended the same high school to do so. Only 20 women were named to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Swimming Team.

With Stone Ridge alumnae earning three of those spots, 15 percent of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Swimming Team was composed of Stone Ridge Gators. After this week, the Stone Ridge Olympians tallied up more medals than some entire countries participating in the Summer Games.

Bob Walker, Stone Ridge swim and dive coach, who coached all three Gator alumnae during their high school years, said the school’s Olympic trio is one of the great stories of the 2024 Summer Games.

“Erin’s first, Phoebe’s second, and Katie’s fourth Olympics never gets old! I know they will take one day at a time or even one year at a time after the games are over, and hopefully we will see Erin’s second, Phoebe’s third and Katie’s fifth…and maybe with the special water we must have in the Stone Ridge pool, another athlete or two arrive on the Olympic stage!”

Ledecky, 27, a captain of the Team USA swim team, posted on her Instagram page that when she earned the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle race Aug. 3, it was 12 years to the day from when she won her first gold medal in that event during the London 2012 games as a 15-year-old rising Stone Ridge sophomore. “Got the job done for the 4-peat,” she wrote.

Ledecky, who currently holds the women’s 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle world records, thanked all those who supported her Olympic journey — her coaches, teammates, family, friends and sponsors. “It’s not always going to feel pretty or 100 percent perfect, but if I have learned anything this Olympic cycle, it’s that the results can still feel rewarding with the right attitude, effort and focus… and especially when supported by great people.”

Looking ahead to the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, Ledecky told NBC’s “Today Show” Aug. 5 that she definitely hopes to race again at the next Olympics. “I’m going to take it year by year, but it would be a dream to compete in front of a home crowd,” she said.

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