The continuation of a yearlong series

When you come right down to it, this could have likely been the greatest sports accomplishment for any Gardner athlete.

The ultimate goal for an athlete is to reach the acme of competition and when that results in an Olympic gold medal, it doesnt get any bigger than that.

Former Greenwood Memorial swimmer and 1999 Gardner High School graduate Samantha Arsenault achieved that moment of glory back in 2000 when she competed in the Sydney Summer Olympics and came home with a gold medal.

Arsenault was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x200-meter freestyle relay team.

A competitive swimmer since she was a youngster, she once recalled looking into the evening sky when she was 8 years old and always making the same wish on the first star she would see each night.

I would always make the same wish, to one day win a gold medal, she said.

However, things were not always rosy for the young swimmer during her high school years.

She was 15 years old and found herself losing interest in the sport while participating for the town team in Peabody, and on the verge of quitting. Her mother, Jeanne, while at the boys high school state meet where Samanthas older brother, Chris, was competing, had a casual conversation with Gardner coach Don Lemieux.

He encouraged her to have Samantha give the Greenwood program a try to see if her attitude to swimming would change it all. As it turned out, it would become the turning point of her life.

It was a big sacrifice, she said, noting how she and her father, Ed, would rise each morning at 3:30 to make the 64-mile one-way trip to Gardner from Peabody.

After a 90-minute practice, she would eat a quick breakfast on the way to Gardner High where she took all honors and Advanced Placement classes.

Then after school it was back to the Greenwood Pool for afternoon practice sessions before the return trip to Peabody for supper, a few hours of studying, and off to bed to resume the same schedule the next day.

It would become her routine for the two years she attended Gardner High, where she graduated as the salutatorian of the Class of 1999 and also helped lead the team to another state championship.

I learned so many life skills swimming in that dungeon of a pool, she said of Greenwood. But swimming became fun for me again and I got the chance to fall in love with the sport all over again.

Her hard work paid off in success as she would eventually have the chance to compete with the same swimmers who were among her idols and whose pictures she had taped to her bedroom walls.

In time, Amanda Beard, Kristy Kowal and Jenny Thompson werent just the photos on her wall they became the swimmers in the next lanes she would be battling with for berths in the National and Olympic qualifying meets.

Eventually, they would become teammates as they represented the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

I got to compete with them and beat some of them, she said. Just knowing that I was on the same level with them, it just made me want to work even harder.

She explained that in Australia, swimmers are put on a pedestal the way American sports fans put pro baseball and football players.

They are the people who are up on the billboards there, she said. The eight days I spent in Australia for the Olympics was the most fun of my life. It was just so exciting to have that swimming cap on with the U.S. flag, you just cant believe it.

She led off 4x200-meter relay with a 1:59 opening leg, and she recalled never being so ready for a race in her life.

I was very nervous, but at that point I had swam that race so many times in my life I just got into my zone, she said. It was so overwhelming.

After getting the U.S. team off to a great start, fellow relay swimmers Diana Munz, Lindsey Benko and Jenny Thompson brought it home for the gold medal.

I still havent been able to come up with the words to describe it, except that it was pure happiness, she said. I was in shock when the race was over.

She gave credit to her parents, Ed and Jeanne Arsenault, who were always so supportive of everything I did, she said. They had high expectations for me: to be loyal to my team, to attend each practice, to set high academic standards, and to always have my priorities straight.

In addition, she paid tribute to Lemieux, crediting him with helping her reconnect with the sport that she loved so well.

We all knew what he expected of us, and it made us know what to expect of each other, she said. The older kids at the pool always have to set the tone. The great swimmers before us did that, and we knew we had to carry on that tradition and we did it well.

She also admitted that winning the gold medal and the things that happened after that helped her find her eventual career path.

I had thought I would go into medicine, but after winning that gold medal I got a chance to come back to Gardner and speak to a lot of the kids in the schools, show them my gold medal, she recalled.

She noted that trips to Holy Rosary School, to Gardner Middle School and Gardner High School, sharing her experiences with young students really appealed to her.

After her Olympic experience, she attended college at the University of Georgia, where she helped lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA championship in 2005.

In all, it wasnt a bad career for the young swimmer who by the age of 24 had achieved the acme in every level she had competed a high school state championship, the NCAA title and an Olympic gold medal.

And I know none of this would have never happened to me had my mother not talked with Coach Lemieux that day and I decided to come to the Greenwood Pool, she said. I know that was probably the biggest decision to influence my life.

Today, she is Samantha (Arsenault) Livingstone and lives in the western Massachusetts town of Williamstown, where her husband, Rob, is the director of sports performance at Williams College and runs his business, Livingstone Speed Academy.

Samantha has transitioned into a full-time working mother and entrepreneur with four daughters who are all actively involved in various sports.

Kylie is 9 and plays soccer, ice hockey and baseball. Their 6 year old twins Jayden (soccer, ice hockey and baseball) and Mia (soccer, ice hockey, baseball, dance and gymnastics) keep them on the go. Mia underwent serious heart issues in her infancy but now is doing really well, according to her mom.

Their youngest, Reese, is 3 and also does gymnastics and swimming. In fact, all four girls love to swim.

In 2017, Samantha launched Livingstone High Performance and is a high-performance consultant, mental performance coach, speaker and educator. She works with clients all over the country, travels for speaking events, workshops and retreats, and also facilitates two multi-module online courses.

The mission of Livingstone High Performance is to build an empowered village so all athletes feel safe, supported and seen. She speaks and writes about mental health issues, especially depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidal ideation because those are part of my story, she explained.

Im forever grateful for the community that is Gardner, she said. When I transferred, I was navigating my way out of the darkness of what I now know was depression and suicidal ideation.

I was leaving a toxic and abusive culture, and even though that bathhouse was tiny, it felt like home, she continued.

And although she is a native of the North Shore community of Peabody, she has always considered Gardner a second home.

I have so many memories and am so grateful for the friendships forged and how much the town and community wrapped their arms around this girl from the North Shore, she said. That small-town love and, honestly, that small-town feeling is a huge reason why were here, raising our girls in this tiny town (of Williamstown) two hours west of the Chair City.

Samantha Arsenault proved to everyone that dreams indeed come true.

That is, if you dare to dream big enough.

Next week: Hurricane takes 180 lives in central Massachusetts (September 1938).

Comments and suggestions can be sent to Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com or in writing to Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563.

View post:
Headlines of the Past - Sept. 20, 2000: Gardner High grad Samantha Arsenault wins Olympic gold - The Gardner News