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Kaleigh Gilchrist: Olympic and Twice World Championship Gold Medalist in Water Polo shares her Success Mantra

Namita Nayyar (WF Team)

Kaleigh Gilchrist is a dual sport athlete in surfing and water polo from Newport Beach, California. She competed on the gold medal-winning US Women’s Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics contributing six goals.

In high school, she was part of the CIF winning water polo team during the 2008 season. She also represented the US Surf Team at 5 ISA World Championships. She won back-to-back Surfing America titles in 2009 and 2010 crowning her the best 18 and under female in America. She won another title as the NSSA high school champion. In 2010, she was the Orange County Register athlete of the year.

Gilchrist attended the University of Southern California majoring in Communication and minoring in Occupational Science. Gilchrist co-capained the 2013 NCAA Championship team. She also won a national title for USC at the NSSA collegiate championships. She was part of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Ambassador for The Young & Brave Foundation. Co-Founder of Camps4champs, Owner of I Miss South Central. She competes on the World Surf League.

Sport Water polo Medal Record

Olympic Games

Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Kaleigh Gilchrist: Olympic and Twice World Championship Gold Medalist in Water Polo, she is also won back-to-back Surfing America titles in 2009 and 2010 crowning her the best 18 and under female in America, here she talks about her workout, diet, and her journey as a world champion.

Namita Nayyar:

You are a dual-sport athlete in surfing and water polo. Walk us through your spectacular journey and share what all led you to take up these sports professionally?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I grew up a tomboy and just wanted to keep up and compete with all of my guy friends. We played all types of sports and I just started to gravitate towards surfing and water polo. As I got older, my skills continued to excel and I just loved both sports that I wasn’t willing to give one up. This was the beginning of my crazy, but awesome schedule.

Full Interview is Continued on Next Page

This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.

All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness

Namita Nayyar:

You were a part of the gold medal-winning US Women’s Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics contributing 6 goals. Being the best involves a lot of dedication and commitment. Share five keys to being the best?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

  1. Love and be passionate about your craft
  2. Find and bring joy in the daily monotonous tasks
  3. Do more than what is asked of you
  4. Connect and build deep relationships with those involved
  5. Work hard

Namita Nayyar:

Introduce us to a day in your life. Your morning begins with…

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

Well my days are unique like the rest of the World right now. During shelter at home they look like…

During full time training it’s something like this…

Namita Nayyar:

Strength and flexibility exercises that essentially comprise your workout routine which is idle for the sports, surfing and water polo? Your advice to beginners in water polo.

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

My advice to beginners is to have fun! The older you get the more commitment is asked of you. You have to love the sport if you want to pursue it and the love comes from the beginning of the relationship with the sport.

Namita Nayyar:

Nutrition is key to performing your best. The diet that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit? Two supplements that are key essential for immunity and enhanced performance?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I take a lot of vitamins and electrolytes to keep me healthy and hydrated and our team drinks a lot of protein to build and repair muscles!

Namita Nayyar:

Training in extreme weather conditions can show its toll on hair & skin, 5 tips you follow for skin, and hair care?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I’ve struggled with finding the right sunscreen my entire life. I’m light skinned and tend to burn easily. Coppertone baby with zinc for my body and vertra for my face has been my go to. It doesn’t always get the job done during long, sunny sessions, which makes for the importance of reapplying when possible. I use tons of lotion and hydration products for my skin. Murad is what I’ve been using for the past year or so. In regards to my hair, I find it important to hydrate with leave in conditioner at the end of the day. I use Ouidad and it’s a 10 products.

Namita Nayyar:

You faced a life-threatening situation in 2019, by a serious laceration on your leg after a balcony collapse at a night club. What happened and how did you recover from it? Key to a healthy recovery from injury?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

We won World Championships in South Korea and went out to celebrate! It was such an awesome night until the freak accident. The water polo community came together and helped all of those in need. I was severely injured and was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. I stayed in South Korea for a few extra days with our trainer Larnie and our team doctor, Dr. Seth Schmoll. My injury consisted of three torn muscles that took over a hundred stitches to repair.

I somehow managed to not break a bone and was millimeters away from nerve damage.I was so lucky looking back at the situation. Larnie our trainer named my rehab the “Mamba Mission” because Kobe has always been an inspiration to me and helped mentor me through the rehab. It takes on even more meaning now that he passed. I spent so many hours dedicated to the Mamba Mission. We did all sorts of creative exercises to relearn how to use my leg. I worked my way back from not even wiggling my toes to being one hundred percent. I’ve learned so much through the journey, but the most being that life is fragile and nothing is guaranteed so it’s so important to be present. It’s so important to laugh a lot, cry a lot and love a whole lot.

Namita Nayyar:

In the current pandemic situation, how do you keep yourself busy while staying at home? What are you looking forward to once all this is over?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I’ve enjoyed the time at home with my family and learning to slow down. I’ve managed to keep busy with workouts and meetings and time has flown by. I’m looking forward to hugging my loved ones when this is all over.

Namita Nayyar:

Share with us your current home workout routine?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I have access to a pool now so that’s helped me slowly feel the water and get back to swimming. Our strength and conditioning coach has set us up with at home workout circuits and a running program. I do blood flow restriction on the bike to build my leg strength. Foundation training every morning helps with posture, mobility and low back pain. The best part about being home is that I’ve been surfing more than I have in years! In summary, my workout routine is all over the place and not too sport specific at the moment. It’s just important for us to stay fit.

Namita Nayyar:

You have majored in communications and minored in occupational science. You are the Ambassador for The Young & Brave Foundation. Share with us more about this endeavor of yours?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I went to the University of Southern California and really enjoyed my college experience with academics, athletics and Greek life. I think those four years were huge in my development as a person and athlete. Once I graduated I wanted to still be a part of a community and heard of The Young & Brave Foundation through mutual friends.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization that helps pediatric cancer. I haven’t done much in the last few years, but the hospital visits and fundraising are special memories.

Namita Nayyar:

You took time away from Team USA in 2017 to resume a professional surfing career. What led to that decision? How did it help?

Kaleigh Gilchrist:

I’ve always done both sports, but water polo has demanded more commitment because it is a team sport and the intense training regimen. I always wanted to fully commit to surfing and thought after competing in Rio I would be ready. I had a lot fun traveling and competing.

It was a huge growth year for me, but early on in 2017 I realized I missed water polo and I had more to give. Fortunately, our coach let me come back, but to this day I’m still working on gaining trust from teammates after pursuing surfing.

Kaleigh Gilchrist Social Media Presence

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kaleighgilchrist

Twitter : https://twitter.com/KGilchrist15

This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.

All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness

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