Three-Time Olympian Haley Anderson Announces Retirement

Haley Anderson; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Three-Time Olympian Haley Anderson Announces Retirement

Haley Anderson, a three-time Olympian and the silver medalist in the 10-kilometer swim at the London Olympics, has announced her retirement.

The 30-year-old made the announcement via social media.

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A post shared by Haley Anderson (@swimhaley)

From her post:

“Thank you swimming for the friends, teammates and coaches that have come into my life. I’m so lucky to have had all these amazing opportunities that swimming has brought me. The little girl that started swimming on her local summer league team could have never dreamed up this journey.

A very special thank you to my family for supporting me through every success, setback, breakdown, comeback and every stroke in between.

Traveling the world and competing for Team USA these last 13 years has been incredible. And because of those experiences I’m ready to take on this next chapter.”

Anderson is the most decorated American open water swimmer since the addition of the 10k to the Olympic program in 2008. Anderson has represented the U.S. at the last three Games, her high-water mark the silver in the 10K in London in 2012. She finished fifth in Rio and sixth in Tokyo. Both she and Ashley Twichell persevered through the Olympic postponement, despite having long-since qualified for the Games.

The native of Santa Clara, Calif., has a slew of international accolades, both in open water and in the pool. She excelled at USC as a distance swimmer from 2010-13. At the 2011 World University Games, she won the 1,500 freestyle and earned silver in the 800 free. She’s long been a competitor in both disciplines, though has fallen shy of her goal of representing the U.S. in both the pool and open water at the Olympics. (She finished fourth at Olympic Trials in 2021 for the first ever women’s Olympic 1,500 free and was third in the 800 free, nipped at the wall by .15 seconds by Katie Grimes.) She also swam in the ISL for the Cali Condors.

Anderson won gold medals in the 5-kilometer swim, which isn’t an Olympic event, at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships. She also helped the U.S. to silver in the team event in 2017 and bronze in 2019, she and Twichell forming a formidable pairing. She qualified for seven World Championships.

Anderson has long been an elder statesmen among the American women’s distance program, mentoring successive generations of rising stars. The cavalcade of congratulations on her Instagram post, from a who’s who of American international swimming, attests to her stature in the community.

Anderson announced that she is taking a job is the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee in Colorado Springs.

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