Three-Time Olympic Water Polo Player Kaleigh Gilchrist Retires
Kaleigh Gilchrist, a two-time gold medalist and three-time Olympian for the U.S. women’s water polo team, announced her retirement on Thursday.
The 32-year-old made the announcement on social media. She helped the U.S. win gold medals at the 2016 and 2021 Olympics and was part of the team that finished fourth at the recent Paris Olympics.
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Gilchrist wrote in part:
“Today is a bittersweet day as I officially retire from the sport of water polo. Eight-year-old me walked onto the Newport Harbor pool deck for the first time not knowing where the sport would take me and, 24 years later, I can confidently say it’s taken me places and allowed me to experience things I never imagined possible. To the sport of water polo: Thank you for allowing me to love you as long as I have, and loving me in moments when I didn’t love you back. You allowed me to be a part of something so much bigger than myself. To my teammates, coaches, support staff, fans, my family: I can never thank you enough for making more than two decades in water polo truly incredible.”
Gilchrist will be honored at a national team exhibition match at a date to be determined.
Gilchrist has won four World Championships with Team USA dating to 2015. She has stepped away from the sport before, to compete in the World Surfing League. Gilchrist also endured a lengthy rehab after she was injured just after the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in a balcony collapse that left her with severe leg lacerations. Her father, Sandy Gilchrist, was an Olympic swimmer for Canada in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.
Kaleigh Gilchrist is a native of Newport Beach. She excelled at Newport Harbor High School before going to the University of Southern California, where she captained an NCAA title team in 2013. She debuted in 2014 with the national team.
“I’ve personally learned to never doubt what she is capable of,” U.S. head coach Adam Krikorian said in a USA Water Polo release. “She has defied the odds in so many ways. Her journey over the last five years in particular has been an awe-inspiring display of perseverance, discipline, and determination. Oftentimes putting in the work when no one was watching, she has been a leader of professionalism every step of the way. I know those skills will continue to shine brightly onto others and throughout the rest of her life.”