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A resolution recognizing the achievements of Nashvillian and Olympian Alex Walsh.
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WHEREAS, Alex Walsh was born on July 31, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee and began swimming at age five at the Jewish Community Center, competing in the Nashville Swim League's summer swimming program and City Meet in 2007. Since then she established herself as a prodigy, developing all four strokes well and breaking multiple national age-group records starting at age 12; and
WHEREAS, after living in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Walsh family returned to Nashville in 2014 so that Alex and her sister and fellow swimmer Gretchen could attend the Harpeth Hall School and train with the Nashville Aquatic Club (NAC); and
WHEREAS, Walsh trained in the Tracy Caulkins Competition Pool at Metro Nashville Parks' Centennial Sportsplex, with Nashville Aquatic Club (NAC) coaches John Morse and Doug Wharam for six years, swimming two hours a day, five days a week, and four hours on Saturdays; and
WHEREAS, since 1975, NAC has trained fourteen Olympians, and in 2016, as a rising ninth-grader, Walsh competed in her first U.S. Olympic Trials, an experience she said molded her goals in the sport; and
WHEREAS, as a member of the Harpeth Hall "Bearacudas" swim team, coached by Polly Linden, four-time Tennessee Interscholastic Coaches Association (TISCA) Coach of the Year, Alex helped win two state championships in 2017 and 2018 and was named the (TISCA) Swimmer of the Year all four years of high school; and
WHEREAS, Walsh holds three individual State records in 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and in the 100 breaststroke, which is also a National Independent Schools record. The Harpeth Hall Bearacudas were named the Girls' High School National Champions by Swimming World Magazine in 2018 and 2019; and
WHEREAS, Walsh also excelled in international competition during high school, earning a silver medal in the 400-freestyle relay and 400-medley relay at the FINA World Junior Championships in 2017...
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