When Gillian Ryan won a USA Swimming National Title this summer at only 15, she had to know her life would change. Now, after having just won her first senior international gold medal, the move is one that is becoming more popular among the young American female swimming stars. Sources with familiarity of the situation tell us that she has moved to Baltimore to train with North Baltimore Aquatic Club, home to history’s greatest swimmer Michael Phelps.
Ryan originally hails from Kutztown, Pennsylvania, about a two-hour drive north of Baltimore, where she trained with the Parkland Aquatic Club. But when her coach Eric Posegay was hired to coach alongside Bob Bowman with the NBAC high-performance group, she made the decision to follow him down Insterstate 83 to continue her quest for an Olympic berth, now two weeks after her 16th-birthday.
She is currently working on a “cyber program” through Kutztown High School. Not only does this allow her to complete her studies remotely without formally changing schools, it allows her the flexibility to meld her training and her studying together with as much flexibility as possible.
She has an apartment in Baltimore, and her parents are each splitting time and spending a part of the week there. Based on her gold medal at the Pan American Games, the transition, though huge, is going smoothly. This comes on the heels of former NBAC swimmer, another high school student, Liz Pelton leaving the club to train with Paul Yetter at his T2 Aquatics program in Florida.