BRUNSWICK, Maine - On an afternoon in March 2021, Emilie Grand'Pierre '23 was walking back to her dorm room after swim practice when she received a phone call from her mom in Atlanta, Georgia. She answered, thinking it would just be a regular check-in.
 
But her mom had a big announcement: She told her daughter she would likely be competing at the Tokyo Olympics. The insertion of this incredible piece of news into her quiet Bowdoin routine was a bit startling.
 
"Oh my goodness. It was just so crazy to be walking back from swimming practice and hear this news," Grand'Pierre recalled.
 
She says it's still hard for her to register that she will be competing in Tokyo with other world-class athletes. To keep her grounded in the days leading up to her departure for Japan, she focused on accomplishing mundane tasks. "I was like, 'Okay there is a checklist of things for me to do, so I'm just going to focus on those things,'" she said. "I don't think it will sink in until I'm behind the blocks about to race."
 
Grand'Pierre currently holds five national records for the Haitian women's swimming team, including in the 400m freestyle (4:53.96), the 50m (34.11), 100m (1:17.04) and 200m (2:49.92) breaststrokes, as well as the 200m individual medley (2:34.84). In Tokyo, she will compete in the 100m breaststroke preliminaries which begin on Sunday, July 25 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. She joins an impressive list of Olympians who have attended Bowdoin, becoming the eighth overall, the fourth Summer Olympian, and the first swimmer to compete. 
 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Grand'Pierre has only competed in one season of intercollegiate competition at Bowdoin. Nonetheless, she has already made a splash on Bowdoin's swimming and diving team. In her first year, 2019 to 2020, she qualified with Bowdoin's 200 medley relay team for the NCAA Division III Championship and earned All-American honors.
 

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Before she left for Tokyo, Grand'Pierre spoke with Nina Ramores '24 about her preparation for the games, what the pandemic has taught her about swimming, how it feels to represent Haiti, and what she hopes to gain from the experience.
 
Ramores: Even though the pandemic has impacted how athletes compete and participate, what is something you've learned swimming for Bowdoin that you hope to carry over into the Olympics?
 Grand'Pierre: I would say this past semester really just taught me to swim with lower stakes. Swimming with no real championship in mind, getting in the pool everyday, and just swimming for fun is what COVID re-taught me to do. I never take for granted the two hours I get in a pool now because this time last year I was struggling to find pool time. COVID was the longest break I took from swimming since I was eight years old, which is so crazy to say! COVID made me take four months off swimming. COVID really has put in perspective how much I love the sport. I don't complain anymore because it's such a blessing and a joy to be able to swim everyday. I've learned to relish the small things and the hard practices.
 
How does it feel representing Haiti in the Tokyo Olympics?
 It's truly one of the biggest honors of my life. My parents are both immigrants from Haiti and because of all the unrest, we haven't been able to go back. But being able to wear my flag on my cap and and show others that there is more to Haiti than the terrible news headlines that often surrounds it is one of the biggest joys of my life. My sister was the first one to swim for Haiti in our family. She went to the Rio Olympics back in 2016 [in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].
 
I just really want to be a role model for other Haitian girls. I have been given so many opportunities, I get to go to Bowdoin College, which is an amazing school, through my athletics. Swimming has given me so much and to just be on this platform and to show others that this sport has given me so much and so much purpose....it's such an honor that I pinch myself everyday. Right now, there are only two girls on the Haitian international team and seven boys so I just want to show other girls that they can do it and this is a pipeline to success and really a world of opportunity.
 
But more than just through her athletics, Grand'Pierre has proven to be a role model in and out of the pool. Brad Burnham, head coach for the Bowdoin men and women's swimming teams, described Grand'Pierre as someone who "fits so well with the Bowdoin mentality." He added, "Emilie embodies this idea that she is much more and her identity is not wrapped in athletics. She can have a rough day in the training pool and leaves it and gets back to her room to take on her academics and is able to go back the next day in the pool and try again."
 
Coach Burnham mentioned how well-rounded you are. Would you say that's true? How did you grow into the mindset of separating athletics with other aspects of your life?
 I think that's definitely something I've grown into. In high school, swimming was the biggest part of my life, everyone knew I was a swimmer. That was my fun fact—everything about me was being a swimmer. But I just realized there's so much more to me than literally the two minutes or less I spend racing. I try to remind myself that there is so much more to me at Bowdoin and even beyond Bowdoin. There's so much more to me than the work I put in the pool, and honestly remembering that puts everything in perspective and makes it more fun. Remembering that there are parts of me beyond the pool also keeps me grounded.
 
What do you hope to gain from your experience in the Olympics?
 This is an opportunity for me to be exposed to some elite swimmers and to be a part of that group. I'm just hoping to soak it all in. I'm hoping to make the A-cup for the Panamerican Championship. It's going to be crazy so I hope to let it sink in, and not put too much pressure on myself and enjoy the moment.  .
 
I just want to say a big thank you to the Haitian federation, my swim coaches Brad and Morgan at Bowdoin, my club coaches back home for training with me and Bowdoin college in general for helping me get through this past semester and setting me up for that.