School of Education student swims in the Olympics this week in Paris


UW–Madison student Phoebe Bacon, a senior pursuing a health promotion and health equity major in the School of Education, is competing in the Olympic Games this week in Paris!

Bacon (Photo courtesy of UW Athletics)

This is, in fact, Bacon’s second Olympics as a member of the U.S. swimming team, competing in the women’s 200-meter backstroke. She finished fifth in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Now in Paris, Bacon will swim the women’s 200-meter backstroke on Thursday, Aug. 1.

Before she left for Paris, Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) caught up with Bacon at the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center on the UW–Madison campus.

In the interview, Bacon discusses why she loves swimming, her experience at the Olympic Games in 2020, and what she’s most looking forward to in Paris. She also shares some advice for young swimmers and athletes: “My biggest piece of advice — and it almost sounds silly, but it’s true,” she says, “it’s just keep having fun and keep smiling.”

“I think that’s the biggest thing that a lot of swimmers within college and as they turn professional forget about, because swimming turns into a job,” Bacon adds. “And if it’s your job, obviously everybody wants to love their job, but it can be hard to actually see the joys that can come of it, the relationships that you can create.”

To learn more about Bacon and her path to the Olympics, check out the full WPR interview.

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