Louisville Olympian and silver medalist stops by Lakeside to talk with fans

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville native has returned home after clenching the silver medal just days ago at the Tokyo Olympics.

Monday afternoon, 22-year-old Brooke Forde greeted fans and signed autographs at Lakeside Swim Club in the Belknap neighborhood.

Forde helped Team USA advance in the US finals of the 4 by 200 – the relay team eventually taking silver.

“Now to be home and to be able to share this with my family and with Lakeside where I grew up - it's really special,” Forde told WDRB News. “It's still sinking in and it's just so cool to everyday think that I am amongst people who I have looked up to for so long.’

She started swimming at Lakeside when she was only four years old and said it’s a surreal moment to now be signing autographs in the same area.

More than 200 fans showed up to talk with Forde – some even holding or wearing the silver medal.

“You see a bunch of people on the Olympics that are from other places and you admire them but it's not that often you have one from Louisville or from Lakeside even,” said 13-year-old swimmer Charlotte Connally.

Forde’s dad – sports reporter Pat Forde – was in Tokyo covering the Olympics and got to watch his daughter swim. He interviewed her after but couldn’t physically hug her until he got home Sunday night – a week after she did.

“The excitement here locally from the club here at Lakeside and everyone else - Sacred Heart where she went to school - it's just been really, really rewarding to see just how much everyone else has rallied behind this,” Pat Forde said.

“I was so thankful that he got to be there,” said Brooke. “We were certainly missing the rest of the family and I would have loved to give him a hug right after but at least I got to see him and he was the parent there for probably the whole Olympics so it was really special.”

Forde is taking a few weeks off away from the pool before returning to Stanford to swim this fall for her final year.

For her, the Olympics are a one-and-done experience. She has no plans on trying out for the 2024 team.

“I was scared to even say I wanted to be an Olympian for the longest time just because it's a scary goal and the chances of it coming true are so small,” Forde said. “I have looked up to so many Olympians in the past to now be amongst them and to have this like in my possession and be able to share it everyone, yeah, I am honored, honestly.”

Forde says she now wants to focus on getting her masters in epidemiology.

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