What were you doing at 17 years old? Were you competing in the Summer Olympics, like Zuri Ferguson?
Ferguson, now a senior at Attleboro High School in Attleboro, Massachusetts, competed in the women’s 100-meter backstroke for the Trinidad and Tobago national team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France; both of her parents are from Trinidad and Tobago.
Ferguson outperformed several competitors, finishing 27th (1:02.75) out of 36 swimmers at Paris La Defense Arena on July 29, 2024.
Ferguson, who is committed to the University of Florida (NCAA Division 1), also hopes to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
NewBostonPost conducted a Five Questions interview with Ferguson by telephone on Monday, September 23. A transcript of portions of the interview is below:
1. What was your favorite memory of the Olympics outside of the pool?
I would definitely say meeting the other athletes, especially with this being my first competition with multiple sports going on in the same spot where I am. I thought it was super cool to see, especially the kids my age or around my age, achieving the same goal that I was and that were in a similar situation as me. I loved to see that.
2. What’s been the most unique or memorable reaction from your peers at Attleboro High to you competing in the Olympics since you’ve returned to school?
Personally, I just find it shocking the amount of people who actually woke up to see the race. All the people I’m close with — I know my race was super early in the morning back home, I think it went off around 5 o’clock in the morning — I was telling them “Don’t bother waking up. If you really want to see it, you can go back and check a recording.” But hearing the amount of people who woke up and watched it was such a shock to me — and it filled me with so much joy knowing I had so much support back home.
3. Training as a swimmer at a high level takes practice every day. Have you been able to live like a normal teen-ager, with other hobbies or activities?
[Laughs] Yeah, there definitely isn’t much time for other things, but I’ve gotten so used to having swim as a part of my schedule that I wouldn’t say it’s easy to plan around, but I have made it a part of my life. Like the amount of things I’ve had to sit out because I had practice or a meet, it doesn’t really affect me anymore. Any open time I have, I try to fill it up with people I may not see every day at the pool.
4. Did you play any other sports growing up and, if so, how did those help you get to where you are today?
Yes, I played field hockey up until about eighth grade, and I loved that. Such a great sport and it was great to see a different set of people. It taught a different perspective of skills because it’s a fully team sport, whereas I think of swimming as an individual team sport. Like you’re still training with a team every day, but you’re competing for yourself — whereas competing in a team sport, you get to see a different aspect of the sports world.
5. At what point did you know you wanted to be an Olympic swimmer and when did you realize the dream was feasible?
Since I started swimming and competing at 5, that was my end goal — or at least my biggest goal. So being in the Olympics has been such a motivating factor for me since the beginning. I knew it was possible to get farther in the sport around 12-13ish. I was aware I could’ve swam for Trinidad then, because one of my past coaches had told my parents that was always a route I could take, but just to take advantage of the opportunities I had in the U.S. first before taking that away by swimming somewhere else. So I did the best I could in the U.S. until I found it was the best time to switch and swim for Trinidad as well. And I realized the Olympics were closer than I ever imagined, I’d say, earlier on this year. That was probably when it became most real.
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