Four-time Olympian Allison Schmidt commits to keeping female athletes involved in sports

Allison Schmidt has set unprecedented records in sports history, including winning 10 Olympic medals for the United States and being one of the first few athletes to openly speak about her mental health struggles. A master of the freestyle technique, Schmidt is one of eight American swimmers to compete in four Olympic Games: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

After a stellar career spanning more than a decade, Schmidt spoke to me about life after swimming and the legacy she hopes to leave for future female athletes.

Life after retirement

Although Allison Schmidt has not officially announced her retirement from swimming, she has not competed in swimming competitions since the Tokyo Olympics. She is currently pursuing another dream of helping future generations after graduating from Arizona State University in 2023 with a master’s degree in social work.

After this major change in her life, and the sadness of leaving her full-time swimming career behind, Schmidt is looking to apply the values ​​she has developed through sport to her future goal of inspiring the next generation.

“There are definitely gaps between one sport and the next career. I think a lot of times elite athletes and professional athletes are so absorbed in their sport that it becomes their world, and at the time, it was their world. But when that world stops, and I’m in my 30s, it’s a very sad time. So I’m able to respect that time and at the same time, I never doubted that I wouldn’t be successful outside the pool.”

That may sound like a vain thing to say, but it’s because I really believe in the values ​​that sports instilled in me. I’m legit. I’m grateful for the opportunities my parents gave me to play sports, for what they taught me, for what my coaches and teammates taught me. So I have a huge passion for continuing education and empowerment in sports. I got my master’s in social work because I’m passionate about mental health and everything that comes with it. And I hope that I can blend that education, that science background with my experience to empower, encourage and inspire the next generation and fill that void a little longer. Because the grieving period between careers is definitely different for everyone. But if you have the resources and the tools to be successful at that time, it makes the transition a little better,” Schmidt said.

The Legacy of Allison Schmidt

After a successful career as a full-time swimmer, Schmidt spoke to me about the impact swimming has had on her life and the legacy she wants to leave for future athletes. According to the 34-year-old swimmer, swimming has taught many valuable lessons to both male and female athletes, and she looks forward to using the opportunities it provides to empower her own voice.

“Anything you can learn from sport is valuable. As a female athlete, I want to talk about empowering your voice because we often lose our voice as children, but when you become an athlete, especially a female athlete, your voice is often lost. So I want to empower young girls to have a voice and make sure they don’t lose their voice in sport and get something good out of it. Because in my case, sport has given me so many great opportunities and I’m grateful to have been involved in sport after swimming.

Legacy. So I guess those are three words: inspire, empower, educate. If I can help you come out of the darkness, if I can inspire you to reach your goals and your passions, I would be so happy. I want to inspire other people to really identify their goals and their passions and really work towards them, because we’re not cookie-cutter people. We’re all here for our own reasons.”

Keeping women in sports

Schmidt believes that every sport has its pros and cons, but there is still a lot of love and passion involved. She said the discipline and love that comes with playing any sport is what keeps women involved in sports for a long time.

Interestingly, girls who play sports at the high school and college level are more likely to be successful: studies have shown that girls who play sports are more likely to graduate from college, enter the workforce, and work in male-dominated industries, yet by age 14, girls are twice as likely as boys to quit sports.

“We put in the hours of rigorous training for the end result, and although there are many good and bad things along the way, we really do it for the friendships we make with our teammates and the shared dream.

I think this is really important in keeping women out of the sport, especially with the fact that girls are twice as likely as boys to quit sports by age 14. And this really kills kids’ dreams. So to be able to be inspired by an athlete and continue a career in athletics is huge. Besides the fact that they will be successful in athletics, it teaches them valuable lessons like discipline, hard work, time management, and the list goes on and on.”

Mental health struggles

Schmidt began speaking publicly about her own mental health struggles in 2015 after she was inspired by the suicide of her cousin, April Bosian, a promising basketball player. Schmidt believed 17-year-old April’s story was not over yet, and decided to tell her story to help people understand the humanity of athletes and believe they are not alone.

“At the end of the day, everyone’s human. Everybody has feelings. Everyone has emotions. And it’s recognized in the moment. Yes, I know we are seen as superhumans, as supers, as smiling people on TV winning gold medals, but those are snapshots of your life. You don’t see everything. You see bits and pieces of people’s lives on social media, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, whatever, and you compare it to that. So, for me, I understand that comparison is a joy-stealer. And really, I mean, to humanize an athlete, understand that they can struggle, they can be depressed, they can have mental illnesses, but at the same time, they can be successful,” she said.

Over the next nine years, Schmidt has done a lot to advocate for better mental health in sports. In 2022, she was a panelist for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s Youth Sports Outreach Program’s event “Mental Wellness and Student-Athletes.” She is also involved with SURGE (Strength, Unity, Resilience, Growth, Equity), a free girls’ sports program offered exclusively by BSN Sports. The program aims to help female athletes ages 12-18 stay in sports and live healthy, fulfilling lives.

“There are tools, resources and support out there to thrive and be vulnerable, because vulnerability is a superpower. And if there’s anyone you can ask for help with, it’s this. Life is hard, and life is a bigger game than any of us will ever play. So we can’t get through it alone. And we need the love and support of others. So being able to reach out is my message to get that help.”

And I really enjoy and appreciate the values ​​of SURGE, and that’s why I’m able to connect with them and give them free tools and resources to really have those difficult conversations around mental health and body image. Let’s have those conversations so that we can be a team together for life, be a team together for life, and help each other.”

Excited about Paris

The 2024 USA Swimming Trials saw a reshuffling of the U.S. team at the international level, with many first-time Olympians, including Gretchen Walsh and Jack Alexie, earning Olympic berths. Schmidt, who attended the trials in Indianapolis, believes this shift in power on the U.S. team will make it more competitive and is looking forward to cheering loudly for the Olympic team.

“I think it’s great for the sport to grow and for our sport, for swimming and for the sport to grow and for us to have those opportunities. So I think it’s great to see athletes from other countries around the world step up, get on the podium and hear their national anthems.”

It’s also going to be a challenge for us Americans, as Americans have been historically very strong on the podium. And we’re being challenged a little bit, but I’m really excited. I’m biased toward the Americans. I always root for the USA, but I’m excited to see how the race in Paris unfolds. And I root for the USA very loudly, but to see somebody stand on the podium and hear the national anthem is an emotion that I don’t know if I can put into words.

I got to see their dreams come true of representing America and the United States at the Olympic level, either again or for the first time. It’s so emotional talking to you. I think it’s so exciting to have the opportunity to go to the Olympics as a spectator, as a supporter, and see the Olympics from a different perspective.”