A future Olympic gold medalist was once the slowest kid in the pool. “I hated swimming,” Allison Schmitt tells USA TODAY Sports. Schmitt wasn’t even 10, and she was ready to quit. Why she didn’t, why she continued on her path to set an American record at the 200-meter freestyle, came down to one simple reason: She met a friend at the end of her first season. That friend, Monica Blaesser, became her best friend. You are never really alone if you have one. Schmidt, 34, spoke with USA TODAY Sports about how she has found support throughout her athletic career and how she is helping younger female athletes discover they have it, too, at the 🔗 in our bio. #Paris2024 #Olympics #ParisOlympics2024 #ParisOlympics #AllisonSchmitt