BRUNSWICK, Maine — Like many Maine college students, Alex Grand'Pierre is spending his summer far from campus.
The Bowdoin College senior has an internship in New York City and during business hours he is getting used to the "real world."
But after he clocks out for the day, Grand'Pierre's work is just beginning. He grabs his gym bag and heads to the swimming pool at New York University as he prepares to represent Haiti in the Olympics.
“It’s truly been a lifelong battle for me and at times I didn’t think I’d get this far," Grand'Pierre said.
It will be a new experience for Grand'Pierre, but he is not the first member of his family to swim in the Olympics.
His sister Naomy was the first woman to swim for Haiti in the Olympics when she competed in 2016. Four years later—well, technically five years later because of the COVID-19 pandemic—Emilie Grand'Pierre represented Haiti in Tokyo.
NEWS CENTER Maine spoke to Emilie, who graduated from Bowdoin in 2023, as she prepared to make her Olympic debut. During that interview, she told us about her younger brother who was about to join her on campus in Brunswick.
Another sister, Audree, swam for the Polar Bears and graduated from Bowdoin in 2021.
So, it's easy to believe Grand'Pierre when he said that swimming is the family's sport. Having the support of his older siblings, he added, helped him overcome challenges when he was younger and helped shape him into the swimmer he is today.
“Starting out...I was a severe asthmatic growing up and probably the smallest in the pool so if you had to pick someone who was going to the Olympics, just off of a first glance, I’d probably be your last choice," he said. “To tell that young kid, you’re going to be in the Olympics, [it's a] dream come true.”
The latest Grand'Pierre to qualify for the games did so after finishing first in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships last month. Grand'Pierre is the Haitian record holder in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter breaststroke and owns the Bowdoin record in those same distances.
The rising senior is coming off a very successful New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) season after winning the 50 and 100-meter breaststroke and was named as an All-American in the 100-meter breaststroke at the NCAA Division III championships.
Despite impressive finishes in international and collegiate competitions, Grand'Pierre said he doesn't spend much time thinking about the results.
“I’m a competitor at heart, I like the feeling of racing someone next to me. The times, I wasn’t always too focused on which seems counterintuitive. But I think, I’m just a competitor, I like to race. And I can’t find that anywhere else, in any other sport," he added.
Grand'Pierre will make his Olympic debut Saturday morning when he races in his 100-meter breaststroke heat. He said he's excited to line up next to some of the best athletes in the world, and he's also looking forward to watching other big-name Olympians compete in their sports.
While he'll compete for himself, his family, and his school, Grand'Pierre said this experience is bigger than him.
“I realize how big of a moment this will be for me but mainly for the country of Haiti and all those young swimmers that may look like me, may have similar backgrounds, and don’t really have a role model out there or feel like they can really do it, or given the situation in Haiti, you know a lot of, they’re just looking for a good story," he added.
Grand'Pierre said he's also proud to compete while friends and family cheer him on. He and his siblings began competitive swimming with the City of Atlanta Dolphins and Grand'Pierre said he was blessed to have a coach that never gave up on him, despite his struggles with asthma.
That support system continued to grow when he walked onto Bowdoin's campus. While COVID-19 limited his ability to tour some schools in person, Grand'Pierre said he was lucky that he had already visited the campus when his sister Emilie attended.
"I’m going to go where I know I’ll be supported and go where I know I’ll love it, and that’s exactly what I found at Bowdoin," he said.
Grand'Pierre also credited his college coach, Brad Burnham, for supporting him and his teammates over the years. The change in pace he experienced at Bowdoin, he said, got him more into the sport and fueled his competitive spirit.
As he hopes to inspire the next generation of Haitian swimmers, Grand'Pierre offered some advice for younger athletes in Maine and from around the world. He said don't let anyone stop you from pursuing your passions and continue to work hard at the things you love, and "you don't have to go to the Olympics to have an Olympian mindset."
Grand'Pierre is the fifth summer Olympian in Bowdoin's history, and the ninth Olympian from the college, according to Bowdoin.
While the Grand'Pierre's have already cemented a legacy at Bowdoin and in Haiti, there's another sibling to watch out for.
Raphael Grand'Pierre just finished his freshman year at Bowdoin and also swims for the school. No pressure, but the 2028 Olympics are just four years away.