Description
Brooke Forde is an American swimmer. The daughter of sportswriter Pat Forde and his wife Tricia, the latter a former swimmer at Northwestern University, she grew up around the sport, with both of her older brothers going on to swim in NCAA Division I. She swam for Lakeside Swim Club in Louisville, Kentucky. According to a 2021 story by local Louisville journalist Rick Bozich, “As her parents remember it, Brooke had one swimming lesson. She learned by sitting with her mom at practice and then mimicking her brothers.” She set her first Kentucky state record as an 8-year-old, and a year later recorded that year’s best age-group time in the U.S. in the girls’ 50m butterfly. At Louisville’s Sacred Heart Academy, she went on to win multiple state championships, make multiple U.S. international teams, and be named national high school girls’ swimmer of the year.
Forde received multiple NCAA Division I offers, ultimately choosing Stanford University, where she had been hosted on her recruiting visit by multiple Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky. While at Stanford, she has so far been on two NCAA championship teams and won four NCAA individual titles, and was also named the Pac-12 Conference scholar-athlete of the year in women’s swimming & diving in 2021. Forde graduated from Stanford in 2021 with a degree in human biology. Due to COVID-19, the NCAA granted all student-athletes in the organization’s winter sports, including swimming & diving, an extra year of eligibility; Forde will remain at Stanford in 2021–22, continuing to swim for the Cardinal while pursuing a master’s degree in epidemiology.
At the 2020 United States Olympic Trials Forde finished sixth in the 200m freestyle, qualifying her for the relay team at the 2020 Olympics after the results of the women’s 50m freestyle opened a spot for her. She earned a silver medal for swimming on the preliminary 4×200-meter freestyle relay team. She also won the 400m individual medley at the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, her fourth overall title.
Forde is a four-time national champion: 400 IM (2021), 500 free (2019), 800 free relay (2018, 2019). She is also a 15-time All-America: 200 fly (2019- 10th), 200 breast (2020, 2021- 13th), 400 IM (2018- fourth; 2019- third; 2020, 2021- first), 500 free (2018- 1th; 2019- first; 2020, 2021- third), 800 free relay (2018- first; 2019- first; 2020, 2021- eighth) The talented swimmer is also a four-time Pac-12 Champion: 200 breast (2020), 400 IM (2020-21), 500 free (2021). The future is bright for the 22-Year Old!
The featured red TYR Blackhawk Swimming Goggles was worn in practice by Brooke Forde in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Sacred Heart grad made her Olympic debut on July 28th, 2021. She swam the anchor leg for the United States 4 X 200 freestyle relay team. The team won it’s heat in 7:47.57. The race unfolded pretty much perfectly. Bella Sims swam a solid leadoff leg, then Paige Madden put the U.S. in front, then Katie McLaughlin increased the lead. When Brooke went in, she had a solid lead over the Chinese. When she finished, exactly one minute and 57 seconds later—the fastest time of her life—the lead was maintained and the American relay had advanced to the finals as the No. 2 seed.
The next morning, it was up to Brooke’s teammates to bring it home. Allison Schmitt subbed in for Sims, and Katie Ledecky subbed in for Brooke—two of the most decorated swimmers in U.S. history. What followed was one of the best races in Olympic history. With China blazing in lane 3 and Australia following in lane 4, the United States was playing catch-up in lane 5. Ledecky gave a furious chase in the anchor leg, splitting the fastest 200 of anyone in the race by a wide margin. She passed the Aussies and nearly caught the Chinese. All three teams broke the world record and the US won the silver medal. Forde has signed the Blackhawk Racing Swim Goggles in black. Unique memento from the TEAM USA Olympian!!!
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