Olympians Rose, Thompson Enjoying Their Time as Masters Swimmers

Whenever she has needed to feel uplifted about her favorite sport, Gabrielle Rose has had one constant she could turn to: Masters swimming.

Feeling emotionally worn down in 2000 after four years competing for Stanford University, she quit swimming at an elite level but joined a Masters group. The 25s she swam in the workouts, she says, reminded her about what she loved about swimming.

A few weeks later, Rose decided to try to make the U.S.’s Olympic team, which she did in the 200 IM. She placed seventh at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, bettering her 22nd-place finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Rose then attempted to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics but failed, an outcome that she says made her feel ashamed and disappointed. “I just wanted to withdraw from the swimming world,” she says.

Still, Rose found an outlet in Masters swimming, competing in Masters meets off and on since then. She’s increased her training over the past year or so, a span in which she set seven U.S. Masters Swimming records. Rose, 45, then set another seven records during the 2023 USMS Spring National Championship at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California, including a 1:01.63 in the 100 breaststroke and a 56.20 in the 100 IM.

“The racing helps bring out the best in you,” Rose says. “That’s the fun part. It’s really about measuring yourself against yourself. And I love being here and just seeing everybody on their own journey and experience.”

Rose’s success helped persuade four-time Olympian Jenny Thompson to start swimming again. The two are close friends after spending time together while at Stanford and after being teammates on the U.S. Olympic team in 2000.

“Gabrielle was the inspiration for me coming back to swim Masters because she’s been doing so well,” Thompson says. “And she’s so fit, and she’s my hero. It’s just wonderful to spend time with her and [former Stanford coach and fellow Masters swimmer] Lea Loveless Mauer and to be together again like old Stanford times.

“I’m having a great time getting to know some people and seeing old friends, and it’s really fun to race again. I love to compete in swimming, and this is a dream come true.”

Thompson, 50, set three USMS records, the 100 freestyle (52.00), the 50 freestyle (23.75), and the 100 backstroke (58.87). She also tied Leslie Livingston's record from 2013 in the 50 butterfly (25.70).

“I sort of felt like I was reinventing myself in my comeback as a backstroker, but it’s not working that great so far,” says Thompson, a member of Palmetto Masters. “But I’m going to keep working on it.”

She’ll also get to keep seeing Rose, who’s enjoying being a Masters swimmer.

“It’s a huge part of my life and identity, and I’m just so grateful,” she says. “It is joy. It’s healing for me from those hard days of swimming. It’s something that gives me meaning and focus. It’s an outlet for me to discover more of what I’m capable of and surprise myself. I went a lifetime best in the 100 breast. That’s really fun.”

Shoults Makes Trip to Spring Nationals Pay Off

Grant Shoults didn’t need much persuading to compete at Spring Nationals.

While surfing one day recently with fellow swimmer David Heron, his friend asked if Shoults wanted to participate in the meet, which would be nearby. Shoults wasn’t sure, but then a couple of days later, he decided to join a club and sign up.

“What I found is the best part about Masters is you have a group to train with,” says Shoults, a member of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. “For the last nine months, I’ve been training by myself. The hardest part about practice, once you’re done with [elite] swimming, is just showing up. If you’re able to show up, you’re going to do great things. I signed up at the last moment and said, ‘Why not? Let’s do the 1000. I’ll do it if you do it.’”

The two entered that race with times just one one-hundredth of a second apart so they’d compete next to each other, and Shoults, 25, won with a time of 9:03.99, which set a new USMS record by 13 seconds. He also won the 200 and 500 freestyle despite only swimming just four times a week leading up to Spring Nationals.

Shoults plans to keep swimming because of the aerobic fitness the sport provides. He underwent two major shoulder surgeries while attending college, which showed him the importance of staying healthy and being able to do what he wanted to do.

“One of my goals post college was whatever anyone asked me to do, whether they want to go hiking, whether they want to go on a surf trip, or they say, ‘Hey, let’s do a triathlon,’ I want to be able to say yes,” Shoults says. “Other people take some time off and then have to build it back. I made the decision that I’m not going to stay at [his previous level of swimming fitness], but if I just touch water a couple times a week, touch weights a couple times of week, I’m going to be in a good position to surf for six hours at a time if I really want to.

“When I’m hopefully in the older divisions, I hope to look like these guys. They’re in fantastic shape.”