My Heart is in Rio!

At 12:05 PM today, Olympian, Naomy Grand’Pierre will compete in the 50-meter women’s freestyle race at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. This is special for many reasons. Her very existence is a living representation of enduring love and friendship between her father, Reginald, and me. I met Reginald in grade school and we have been friends ever since. Over the decades, there have been stretches of many years where we lived in different parts of the world and lost touch. Yet, even in those years apart, a spiritual bond existed between us that made distance irrelevant. So much so that when we each fathered our first child, both girls, we gave them almost identical names. Reginald named his daughter Naomy and I named mine Naomi, even though we had no contact for several years. As we both set about raising our families, it hasn’t been easy staying in touch, but as often happens; death reunited us recently when my mother passed away. Without hesitation, Reginald flew down to be with my sister and me in our time of grief. My mother knew Reggie well and loved him. When the race starts, it will have been 115 days, 5 hours, and 58 minutes since our beloved Ruth breathed her last. In that time, there has not been a single day that I have not thought about her. At first, it seemed I couldn't go more than an hour without being consumed with grief. But the shock of loss has dissipated, the healing has begun, and pain is giving way to bittersweet memories. Today, two friends continue to bridge the gap between two generations of strong women: Our mothers, Louise and Ruth, and our daughters Naomy and Naomi. But today is Naomy’s day. Today she will fly through the water and the pride of a nation goes with her. Today, regardless of the outcome, we acknowledge her as an olympian, a role model, and a winner in the truest sense of the word. Godspeed Naomy!

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here?

After 20 years of absence from the international swimming scene,  Haiti participated in the 21st Caribbean Swimming Championships in the Bahamas. My family and I found ourselves in the middle of this resurgence as Naomy my daughter along with 3 other athletes swam for Haiti.

Emotions ran high as records were broken and swimmers from 30 countries worked to qualify for the games of the  31 Olympiad, featuring 306 events in 28 sports. With 8,255 confirmed and  more than 10,500 Athletes expected to  participate in the Rio games.  Haiti has one confirmed male swimmer participating and came 1.5 seconds short of a B qualifying time for a female swimmer.   The question "Where do we go from here?" is what I, my wife Clio, and our other children needed to answer as we prepared to meet Naomy at the Atlanta International Airport on her way to Ohio where she is to complete 3 months of summer training at The Spire Institute. 

The Olympics Games provides a platform every 1,460 days to celebrate the world's top athletes and their commitment to the pursuit of excellence. With the fanfare and medals awards making the headlines, it is easy to overlook  the personal development, perspiration, planning, perseverance and patience needed in order to participate in the games.

Haiti's historic participation after 20 years of abscence in the Bahamas game is the fruit of the dreams, vision and efforts of a team of dedicated volunteers, whose commitments date back  to decades earlier.  

Building on the momentum created by Clio and my dream  for our daughter to succeed, a group of dreamers and pioneers joined together to start what is now the beginning of a larger movement to change the face of Swimming in Haiti. Clio and I have poured the pride, inherited from our Haitian heritage, into all 5 of our children.  It would be foolish of us to think that the more than 150,000 views generated from the 2 minutes UChicago video of Naomy's story http:/bit.ly/295GtH5 is solely  due to her swimming ability alone. I hope her story sparks a fire in all of us to answer the question "Where do we go from here?"as athletes, coaches, parents, families, friends, citizens and as a people? 

As we pursue the journey to Rio and beyond,  I want to thank:

Naomy and the other swimmers in Haiti for sharing with us their dream, struggles and passion

The Haitian Swimming Federation (FHSA) for reactivating a dormant federation in 2013

Carl and Pascalle Duvivier, Christelle Etienne, Dr Mendelssohn, Dr Mervilus and the entire  FHSA staff and board members 

James Volel, massage therapist, who volunteered his services to the Haitian National Swim Team

USA Swimming and FINA for supporting Naomy on her quest to excellence in the sport of swimming

The BRH (Haiti's Central Bank) and other local Haitian sponsors 

The Haitian Olympic Committee

The Haitian Consulate in Atlanta

The Haitian Embassy in Washington
The Georgia Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc (GAHCCI)
Foutbol se Nou for providing uniforms to the #TeamHaitiSwimming2016

HYRO for helping the Haitian Swim Team fundraising efforts

JL Homes for funding 80% of the Road to Rio Haitian Swim Team initiative

The City of Atlanta Dolphins swim team, parents, teammates and specially Coach Tommy Lee Jackson for his dedication to Naomy's success in and out of the water. 

The University of Chicago's Athletic Department, specially Coach Jason Weber and his staff for training Naomy for weeks after the Varsity Swim season was over.

Whitefield Academy (Class of 2015) and St John the Evangelist Catholic School (Class of 2010)  for cheering nonstop for Naomy.

Members of the media, old and new, who gave the team a voice and shared our story with the public

To friends and family who cheered online and offline for #TeamHaitiSwimming2016

Finally to Clio, the ultimate swim mom, THANK YOU!

WE WILL GO ALL THE WAY !

TO RIO AND BEYOND... 

Happy 4th of JULY!

Reggie