GRAND PIERRE Emilie Faith

General
LOWER STAKES
She says the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed her love of swimming, after years focusing only on competitions. "I would say this past semester [early 2021] really just taught me to swim with lower stakes. Swimming with no real championship in mind, getting in the pool every day, and just swimming for fun is what COVID re-taught me to do. I never take for granted the two hours I get in a pool now because this time last year I was struggling to find pool time. COVID was the longest break I took from swimming since I was eight years old, which is so crazy to say. COVID made me take four months off swimming. It really has put in perspective how much I love the sport. I don't complain anymore because it's such a blessing and a joy to be able to swim every day. I've learned to relish the small things and the hard practices." (bowdoin.edu, 19 Jul 2021)

ROLE MODEL
She says she wants to become an inspiration for girls to take up competitive sport in Haiti. "I just really want to be a role model for other Haitian girls. I have been given so many opportunities, I get to go to Bowdoin College [in the United States of America], which is an amazing school, through my swimming. Swimming has given me so much and to just be on this platform and to show others that this sport has given me so much and so much purpose, it's such an honour that I pinch myself every day. Right now, there are only two girls on the Haitian national team and seven boys, so I just want to show other girls that they can do it and this is a pipeline to success and really a world of opportunity." (bowdoin.edu, 19 Jul 2021)

FAMILY HERITAGE
She was born in Atlanta, GA, United States of America, to Haitian parents. (BNC News YouTube channel, 13 Jul 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
She has served as a certified lifeguard at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, United States of America. Alongside her degree in computer science and digital and computational studies at Bowdoin, she has also taken pre-medical school classes. (bowdoin.prestosports.com, 19 Jul 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 May 2021)