Olympic swimmers Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Emma Weber, Kate Douglass and Paige Madden took to the field to throw the ceremonial first pitch for the Washington Nationals, kicking off their game against the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend.
They stepped out decked out in Nationals jerseys adorned with the swimmers’ names on the back and the number 24 in honor of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Each swimmer, all current or former University of Virginia athletes, got to throw a pitch as they were welcomed onto the field by fans at Nationals Park.
The Olympians’ first pitch at the Nationals game was not their only high-profile public appearance last weekend, as it coincided with the same date that President Joe Biden welcomed Team USA’s athletes from the 2024 Olympic Games to the White House.
Coming off of the Paris Games, the five swimmers brought home 11 medals between them.
Douglass won gold in the 200 breast and 4×100 medley relay, as well as silver in the 200 IM and 4×100 free relay. Paris marked her second Olympic Games; she previously won bronze in the 200 IM in Tokyo.
In her Olympic debut, Gretchen Walsh brought home four medals for Team USA. She won gold in both the women’s 4×100 medley relay and the 4×100 mixed medley relay, in addition to winning silver in the 100 fly and 4×100 free relay.
Madden secured two medals in her second Games, claiming silver in the 4×200 free relay and bronze in the 800 free.
Weber helped the Americans win gold in the 4×100 medley relay, racing the breaststroke leg in the preliminary heats of the event.
As a result of a DQ in the 200 IM, Alex Walsh missed out on bringing home her second Olympic medal in the event after winning silver in Tokyo.
This group of Olympians is the latest in a series of Olympic swimmers to throw out first pitches at professional games in the last few months; Carson Foster, Elizabeth Beisel and Summer McIntosh have all been given the same honor since the Games ended.
Who had the best arm?
Love that swimming is getting publicity