Haley Anderson: Gearing up for Rio!

February 18, 2016 | By

By Haley Anderson, 2012 Olympian


Photo: R-SPORT / MIA ROSSIYA SEGODNYA

Hello All! My name is Haley Anderson and I wanted to introduce myself for these blogs about my journey to Rio 2016 this summer.

It actually starts back in my summer league days in Livermore, California. I still remember those summers of swimming at our club, long days filled with swim practice, tennis lessons and basketball and general goofing around with my older sister Alyssa.

I wouldn't be able to talk about my own swimming path without talking about my family of swimmers. It starts with my mom, she swam in college at the University of Hawaii and was also a distance swimmer. She got my sisters and I into swimming at an early age. We tried so many different sports and swimming was the one that always stuck. My older sister Alyssa went off to college at the University of Arizona and became an All-American who won an Olympic Gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 800 free relay. I swam at the University of Southern California from 2009-2013. Shortly after winning my first NCAA title in my junior year at USC, I qualified for my first Olympic team, too: Open Water Marathon event at the London Games. I was able to bring home the first open water medal for the United States winning a silver. 


Photo: R-SPORT / MIA ROSSIYA SEGODNYA

My younger sister Jordan is now a studly freshman swimming at the University of Utah. Three sisters, all at Pac-12 schools, which makes for some fun debates on whose football team is better in the fall. #FightOn

This go around has been completely different for me than making the team in 2012. I have so many more races under my belt, more experience in and out of the pool. Since London, I have graduated college and began my journey as a professional swimmer, shattering my expectations of what that means but at the same time creating my own path post collegiately.


Photo: R-SPORT / MIA ROSSIYA SEGODNYA

As a result of my performance at Worlds last year in Kazan, Russia, I already earned a spot for Rio. Qualifying a year out means, a year to focus, a year to train, a year to be better than I was before.

I hope you can follow me on my journey and maybe learn about what I am up to in the months ahead. We are going to do some fun things here on SwimOutlet’s social media that gives you a little behind the scenes of my life, my training, a bit about where I live and what I go through to be the best that I can be.

I’ll be taking over their Snapchat @SwimOutlet this week and SwimOutlet will be giving away an Arena suit -- so thanks for following along!

Haley
@SwimHaley - Twitter and Instagram

Win an Arena suit! To enter, simply send Haley best wishes and good luck for her 2016 Olympic campaign in the blog comments below! All entries must be received by Sunday, Feb 28. One entry per person. Winner selected at random.

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