Allison Schmitt is a mainstay around the pool deck at big events, but after making four Olympic teams, she was at Lucas Oil Stadium in a different capacity.
“I love the adrenaline and the lights and the swimmers in the water,” Schmitt said. “It brings back so many emotions.”
The Olympic gold medalist is done with her competitive swim career, but is still contributing to the future of the sport in a number of ways.
“I have a few different hats going on. You always hear about athletes’ transition from sport to another career. It is a whole grieving process that we don’t always recognize,” Allison Schmitt said. “I am so grateful that I had that support throughout my own grieving process. I was able to take a year and go back and finish my masters. Now I have a few hats where I can use my career and my masters in social work.”
Schmitt is a Chief Empowerment Officer at BSN Sports.
“They just created a program called ‘SURGE’ which is a program for coaches to empower their female athletes. It gives them free resources to help build confidence and all of the great attributes that sports brings to you,” Schmitt said. “It is aimed to keep girls in sports.”
Especially with so much that gets neglected among athletes.
SURGE stands for Strength, Unity, Resilience, Growth and Equity – is a free girls sports program exclusively offered by BSN SPORTS that aims to empower female athletes aged 12-18 to stay in sports and lead healthy, successful lives.
In three months, SURGE has gained 1,675 program members and is impacting more than 250K girl athletes across the U.S., according to BSN.
“We need to keep girls in sports as long as possible and address sensitive topics like mental health and body image,” Allison Schmitt said. “This program is designed to do that. It is great to join that team.”
Schmitt also works with another company in London as an ambassador on female education on female health as well as public speaking and swimming lessons on the side.
BSN distributes sporting equipment and uniforms. There are reps all over the country and each product tells coaches how to get help for their athletes.
It is all about learning and that is what Surge is all about.
“To me a leader has always been someone in the mix and not a hierarchy. I just tried to bring people together and hopefully inspire them,” Allison Schmitt said. “I am definitely an emotional person. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I am not afraid to cry with someone, happy tears or sad tears. It is all about being able to relate. So much now with technology … people don’t really listen to others and people want to be heard.
“The response has been mind-blowing and I hope it keeps growing. I mean, it is a free resource.”
For more information on Surge, click here.