ABOUT ME

“So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”, that familiar question kids are asked at a young age. For me, it was simple, I wanted to be an Olympian. At 8 years old, I had joined the Bainbridge Island Swim Club, and after a year of swimming decided that I wanted to be an Olympian when I grew up. I came home from school one afternoon with a drawing in hand, me standing on a podium with a big medal around my neck. I’m sure my parents patted me on the back and complimented my drawing, little did we know that one day it would actually come true.

The road to making the Olympic team wasn’t an easy one for me, but on July 4th, 2008 I qualified 5th in the women’s 100m freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the 4x100m freestyle relay. The very next day, I broke my right hand in two places. With a little over a month until the relay in Beijing, the chances of realizing my dream seemed next to impossible. But, with an incredible surgeon, strong will of determination, positive mindset, and amazing support team, a week later I started my recovery in preparation to compete in the most important meet of my career.

Those next few weeks were some of the most challenging, and ultimately rewarding weeks of my life. Breaking my hand taught me so much about the true power of our thoughts, positive and negative, visualization, and overcoming adversity. It taught me that we are truly capable of achieving whatever we put our mind to. With a miraculous recovery, my relay team and I went on to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, earning a Silver medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Swimming was such a huge part of my life for so long, and I’m grateful for everything it taught me, the friendships I made, and all the coaches who helped me along the way. I was fortunate to be exposed to yoga during my college swimming career, which is where these two passions first overlapped.

I have been practicing yoga since 2004, and began teaching in 2014 after completing a year long 500-hour yoga teacher training in Montreal, Canada with Naada Yoga. I practice and teach traditional and modern practices of Hatha, Restorative, and Integral yoga. Both active and passive postures, which establish physical and mental clarity and calmness. I also teach elements of vinyasa, and classes always begin with pranayama and end with a long savasana. To me, yoga is a life long study, and I look forward to continuing to grow and learn as a teacher for years to come.

​

I'm glad that I've found a way to incorporate my two passions, swimming and yoga, and love teaching all ages and levels. If you'd like to work together, please reach out! 

​