The Return From Retirement That Nobody's Talking About: Gil Stovall

Anybody on the face of the earth with a passing interest in swimming who lives within 10 miles of a TV or computer with an internet connection can name one of the USA’s 200 butterfliers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Basically, if you’re reading this, you probably know that the 200 fly was one of Michael Phelps’ 8 gold medals.

But I’d bet the number of swim fans who can name America’s other 200 butterflier at the Olympics is significantly smaller. Sure, some of our more dedicated swim fans will pluck it out without a problem. But the other guy is by no means a household name. Tyler Clary wasn’t quite good enough yet. Davis Tarwater took 3rd at trials, despite posting a mark which at the time made him the 5th-fastest performer in history. Nope, the other swimmer was Gil Stovall, from the University of Georgia.

Stovall had the 4th-fastest time in the world in 2008 with his 1:53.86 from the US Olympic Trials in Omaha, which temporarily gave him the spot for 2nd on the all-time top performers list in the event. Yet, a disappointing 9th-place finish in Beijing kept him from earning his due, world-wide recognition. In the US, his star burned brightly for a while when, in 2008, he broke the oldest NCAA Record on the books-clearing “Gold Medal” Mel Stewart’s 200 fly time in 1:41.33. He never received due recognition for that swim either, as it stood for only a season before Shaune Fraser broke it in 2009.

So perhaps its appropriate that Stovall’s return to competitive swimming has gone mostly without the fanfare and coverage that has surrounded other former champions, including Ed Moses and Brendan Hansen. But it’s happening, it should be a bigger deal than it has been, and it’s all owed to a little girl named Emma Grace.

After the 2008 Olympics, Stovall took an unofficial-official retirement (very similar to Hansen’s) as he moved to Memphis to finish his education. He was basically totally out of training and was working as a swim coach and giving private lessons on the side while attending the University of Memphis. One day, he was giving a lesson to a girl named Emma Grace Pecha (who, after her work with Stovall, has catapulted from an 11-year old “BB” swimmer to a 13-year old “AA” swimmer), when Emma Grace’s mom Kim asked Stovall an interesting question. She asked him why he wasn’t training for the 2012 Olympics, given that he was still a very young man who should have been entering his time as a swimmer.

His answer was one that has plagued many swimmers: that he simply didn’t have the time or money to finish school and train as an elite, Olympic-level athlete. Pacha simply wouldn’t accept that as a viable excuse, and asked if he would return to training if she would help him fund-raise.

And folks, that is what they call “history”. Stovall and the Pacha family have been back in the water preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, and all reports are that things are going fantastically. This time, let’s sit up and take notice of Stovall and what he’s doing, and make sure that he gets the credit he’s due.