A Regis Jesuit High School swimmer received quite a surprise at a swim meet on Sunday afternoon. Camille Shifrin, a freshman at the same high school where Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin swam, was racing at a club meet for her club team Aces Swim Club on Sunday when she was surprised by her mother – Lietenant Colonel Elizabeth Shifrin of the US Air Force JAG corps, who had spent 6 months on tour in Africa.
In an interview with local NBC affiliated 9News.com, Camille Shifrin shared a similar experience: there was some garbled announcement over the loudspeaker before the National Anthem was set to play, when suddenly she realized that her mom was talking on the intercom, having returned home a day early.
“It [was] a lot of relief, honestly, that she was back and that she was safe and everything, and that she had come to see the meet today,” Camille said.
This was Elizbaeth Shifrin’s first deployment in 18 years of service in the US Air Force’s legal arm. She had been deployed in Djibouti as part of a counter-terrorism operation and worked with the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense, training them on law, war, and human rights.
Watch a video of the tearful homecoming below, courtesy 9News.
Kudos to all the ACES coaches, parents and volunteers that helped make this happen!