Pelhamites of all ages packed the Picture House on Tuesday to give a smiling Kate Douglass a standing ovation as she made her way to the stage.
Douglass was there to talk to her hometown crowd about her success at the Paris Olympics, appearing in the same theater where crowds cheered her on during watch parties last summer as she swam to four medals for the USA. Tickets for Tuesday’s event were free but quickly sold out.
Clayton Bushong, executive director of the Picture House Regional Film Center, opened the event by playing video of the women’s 200m breaststroke final, in which Douglass won her first-ever gold medal.
The tension was clear on Douglass’s face projected up on the screen. During the race, the commentators expressed their surprise at her lead, which she would confirm to the Picture House audience that she was surprised about herself.
She went on to win gold in the women’s 4x100m medley relay and silver in the women’s 200m IM and the women’s 4×100m freestyle relay. Douglass has since broken the world record in the short-course 200m breaststroke as well as claiming two American records.
Following the video, Bushong led a Q&A session with audience members asking questions ranging from nutrition to navigating intense pressure at big swimming meets to mathematics.
Douglass talked about her college experience. After graduating from PMHS, she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 2023 and continued on with a master’s. She trains out of the UVA facilities, where she swims every day for several hours across multiple sessions, with only one day off per week.
“I think just being a part of a college team was just a great experience for me, and I feel like I was around a lot of girls who had the same goals as me,” Douglass said. “And it was nice to have, you know, one common goal as a team of winning a national championship, and so I feel like the girls I was surrounded with just really helped push me and motivate me, and I feel like we really supported each other well. I think that really helped me figure out why I love swimming, if I wanted to keep doing it, and just kind of figured out how to kind of love the everyday grind because I feel like for a while it was hard to get up and go to practice all the time.”
Douglass, only in Pelham for 48 hours, heard audience members express their gratitude that she took the time to talk to them, including Pelham mom Nicole who asked about Douglass’s work with a UVA mathematics professor to improve her performance.
Douglass said there were several things team members did to boost their efficiency in the pool, which for her included meetings with the math professor to assess her breaststroke form and take some time off her laps.
Several questions came from younger swimmers looking for advice about mindset and dealing with the mental and physical struggles of being an athlete.
“Honestly, there are a lot of times, even today there are some days in practice, where I’m like, ‘Wow I hate this so much. This is so hard. My body feels horrible. I’m sore. I’m tired. Why am I doing this to myself?'” she said. “But then I kind of remember the bigger picture. And when I was younger it was hard to understand why my body was hurting so much, and if that was a good thing or not. But now I’ve come to realize that being uncomfortable in practice is really the only way you’re going to get better, and so I’ve started to figure out ways to like that uncomfortable feeling a little bit more. But it’s definitely very normal to hate swimming sometimes.”
“Even in college swimming, we cry sometimes in practice. We’re miserable sometimes. But then at the end of the day, we’re happy that we’re together and on the team together and we have goals and we still want to accomplish them.”
Douglass wrapped the Q&A with a closing thank you: “I definitely think that afterwards looking back at all the videos of everyone cheering it means so much to me knowing that all of you guys just support me and are cheering me on.”
Douglass’s father William said, “This is amazing because this is something that the town has been trying to work out to recognize Kate, and she’s never here because she’s always traveling, so it worked out nicely, and she’s thrilled to give back a little bit to the Pelham community.”
Douglass then stood for pictures with anyone who wanted one. The line wrapped around the entire theater.
Up next for Douglass are the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest Dec. 10-15. Then she will set her sights on trials for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in the summer.
