Running into Dallas: Olympian Rachel Bootsma Reiser

Olympic Gold Medalist 4x100 Medley Relay from London 2012
3-time Individual NCAA Champion 100 Yard Backstroke, 2-time NCAA Relay Champion, 1-time NCAA Team Champion

University of California, Berkeley Swim & Dive Team Captain 2015-16

I am currently work for AT&T! My husband (fiancé at the time) and I moved to Dallas, Texas in December 2017. Moving to a brand new state and planning a wedding from afar was a lot of new changes that trying to find a full-time job just seemed to be too much on my plate.

Sports taught me so much that it is hard to put it in to a few short words. I think one of the most important things that sports taught me was that it's OK to not be OK and that it's OK to ask for help. The athletic world and life after sports have a lot of great times, but there is also a lot of times when it is so tough. Sports taught me that it's okay to struggle and it's even more okay to ask those who are around you for help. I struggled throughout my swimming career until I learned that I needed to become an advocate for myself and ASK for what I needed. 

Leaving swimming was hard for me mentally, physically, and emotionally but I asked my closest friends and family to help show me that I was more than just "Rachel the swimmer" and I started to see myself in another frame of mind. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't miss swimming, because I DO almost every day but I have enjoyed getting to find other things that I am good at or that I enjoyed. As a swimmer I never enjoyed running, and now while I wouldn't say I am in love with it, I just signed up to run my first 10K! I am constantly surprising myself by finding things that I enjoy that I never got to experience because of swimming.