Maryland Catholic high school roots for three U.S. Olympic medalists in Paris, including the legendary Ledecky
August 2, 2024
Catholic swimmer Katie Ledecky of the United States celebrates after winning gold and setting a new Olympic record in the Women's 1,500-meter freestyle final in the 2024 Olympics in Paris July 31. Ledecky is one of three Catholic school grads from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland, who were set to compete in Paris. (OSV News photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters)
BETHESDA, Md. (OSV News) -- Just one day ahead of the grand opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda hosted its own celebration -- a pep rally to showcase the community's love, support and pride for three alumnae Olympians.
Katie Ledecky (class of 2015), Phoebe Bacon (class of 2020) and Erin Gemmell (class of 2023) are members of the U.S. Women's Swim Team competing in Paris. The two younger swimmers helped Ledecky claim a record-breaking 13th Olympic medal with a bronze win in the women's 4x200M freestyle relay, helping her become one of the most decorated U.S. Olympic individuals of all time and of any female swimmer in Olympic history.
After her championship run in Tokyo in 2021, she visited the school to meet with students, where she reflected on her Catholic faith and what it meant to her during the difficulties of the pandemic.
Yes, she still says the Hail Mary prayer before every race to calm any nerves, just as she did at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, according to reports from the Catholic Standard.
She told the National Catholic Register that the Hail Mary "gives her peace knowing I'm in good hands. I think our devotion to Mary is very beautiful. She has a sacred role in Catholicism, and her strong faith and humility are things we can learn from."
"My faith remains very important in my life, especially the last two years," said Ledecky, adding how much being able to "attend" Mass virtually every week with her family whom she hadn't seen in person since December 2019, helped her through the challenges of the pandemic.
"My faith is strong, and I realized more how important that is," she said.
Ledecky was just a rising 15-year-old Stone Ridge sophomore in 2012 when she won her first gold medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle race during the London Olympics.
"It's just amazing to get to be a part of even one-13th of the journey that she's been on," Gemmell told NBC News Aug. 1. "It's so much more fun to be on a relay than to be by yourself, and we just had a great time out there tonight."
But ahead of the Paris Olympics this year, at Stone Ridge, 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 on July 25 to the Bethesda campus of the all-girls k-12 Catholic school sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
Loud cheers, lots of patriotic red, white and blue colors, dozens of homemade posters and countless U.S. flags were on hand to honor the hometown Olympians.
"We are beyond excited to be able to be there to support her. We are thrilled!" said Philippa Bacon, mother of 22-year-old Phoebe Bacon, who is competing in her second straight Olympics as a 200-meter backstroke swimmer.
For the Tokyo Games in 2021, spectators were not permitted to attend due to the global pandemic. This time around, Bacon's family, including her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, as well as family friends, are excited to be their own cheering section in the viewing stands for Phoebe's races. "I think we are taking over half the plane (to Paris)," Philippa Bacon said ahead of the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in an interview with the Catholic Standard, Washington's archdiocesan newspaper.
Swimming events at the 2024 Summer Olympics began July 27 and will conclude Aug. 4. A total of 852 swimmers from around the world are competing in Paris. On July 27, Ledecky, the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history, won her first medal of the 2024 Games with a bronze in the women's 400-meter freestyle.
Before the rousing assembly began, rally-goers spent time signing large postcards, writing short, but sweet words of congratulations, encouragement and gratitude to each of the Stone Ridge Olympians. Messages included: "Good luck - we know you can do it!", "Bring back Gold!" and "Thank you for being such a great role model to my girls – 8 & 6 years old!"
Held in the school's gymnasium, the rally also featured the Stone Ridge Olympic teammates in a slide show of photos in and out of the pool, as well as video greetings from them, all of whom swam for their high school Gators team. Local television news channels were also present to capture the pre-Olympic excitement. In individual pre-taped messages, Ledecky, Bacon and Gemmell each expressed gratitude to the Stone Ridge and Montgomery County communities for their longtime support on their Olympic journeys.
Then from Croatia, where the U.S. swimming team trained prior to the Olympics, the three Gator Olympians, posing together and wearing the special Stone Ridge Team USA T-shirts, relayed joint messages back to the community -- thanking everyone for their love and support and for cheering them on in Paris. "We can't wait to start racing!" said Ledecky, 27, competing in her fourth Olympics. Bacon added, "And thanks for these awesome T-shirts!"
Also in a video message, Catherine Ronan Karrels, the head of school at Stone Ridge, who traveled to Paris to root for her former students, thanked everyone for turning out and promised live swimming race updates throughout the games. "Go Gators! Go Katie! Go Erin! Go Phoebe! Go Team USA!" she said.
Malcolm McCluskey, the head of the Stone Ridge Upper School, told the crowd that all three Olympian alumnae represent their alma mater beautifully and they continue to embody the school's spirit. "They are amazing ambassadors not only of Stone Ridge, but also the USA," he said.
The Stone Ridge Gators' swimming and diving coach, Bob Walker, who could not be present for the rally, said in a video message that his pride for the three Olympians is indescribable.
"Not only are they great swimmers, but great role models. Good luck in Paris!" he said.
Andrew Maguire, Stone Ridge's athletic director, who was the rally's emcee, said of the former Gators turned Olympians, "We are so proud of them. All their hard work and dedication has culminated in this, and they have reached the pinnacle of their sport." Maguire also led the crowd in several rousing "USA Gator!" cheers which were broadcast live and recorded for the Stone Ridge Olympians in Paris.
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% of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women's Swimming Team is composed of Stone Ridge Gators.
Evie Kalas, a Stone Ridge fourth grader, proudly held her homemade poster featuring her school's Olympians. She said she's been cheering for Katie Ledecky for her entire life and admires all three because "they are the world's best swimmers!"
Her dad, Bob Kalas, taught both Ledecky and Bacon social studies at Little Flower School in Bethesda, where the girls attended elementary school and where both families are members of the parish. A sign of support for the swimmers is displayed on a wall outside Little Flower School in Bethesda.
In May, Ledecky received the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest who is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, at the White House.
The White House said the award is given to "individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors."