Courtesy: RYTE Sport, a SwimSwam partner.
Lexie Kelly, Newport Beach local and open water swimmer, sits down with Alex Young from RYTE Sport to discuss her career and the inspiration behind her Signature Series. The interview provides a timeline of her introduction into swimming, how she came to swim in college, how she “Defines the Sport”, and her involvement in the world of open water swim.
Lexie was born in Redding, California and grew up swimming for a club called the Redding Aqueducts. She attended Shasta High School, and later went on to swim at Cal State Bakersfield because of her connection to the program via her high school swim coach. However, her career did not end there. After college, Lexie was swimming at a pool in Seal Beach when she was introduced to open water swimming. Since then, she has traveled around the world organizing and competing in open water swim events. She’s traveled to over 40 countries, swam in many different types of water, and seen some of the most incredible sea life. When she’s not traveling, she spends her days working out with friends at places like Soul Cycle and Barry’s Bootcamp. Lexie, who associates herself with being a mermaid, draws from experience and where she lives as the inspiration for her collection.
As a RYTE Sport Athlete, Lexie “Defines the Sport” in her own unique way. Before her open water career, Lexie swam for Cal State Bakersfield. In the interview Lexie shares that her main event in college was actually more IM-
Lexie: I swam 400 IM, 200 IM occasionally I was thrown into a longer distance event, but my focus on distance didn’t come until after my college career.
Her love for swimming, especially distance swimming fueled her drive to continue after college and ultimately led her to create a career out of it. She is defining her sport by being involved, participating in events world-wide, and sharing her passion for swim by working with kids and adults.
Here’s a sneak peak of some of the questions covered in the interview!
● When you’re preparing for a race, what are you thinking about at the beginning to prepare, in the middle of it, and at the end?
● What’s is your favorite race and where was it?
● Where did the inspiration for your collection come from?
Watch the full interview with Lexie Kelly below.
Lexie Kelly’s Signature Series
RYTE Sport is the performance swimwear brand that empowers athletes and teams to define who they are in their sport. Through our signature series sponsorship RYTE Sport is disrupting the conventional sponsorship model offered to professional aquatics athletes. We want the swimming community to connect with athletes on a deeper level than just their swimming accolades. Not enough swimmers are getting the recognition or the compensation to compete full time.
A large majority of aquatics athletes competing in the Olympics are NOT sponsored. RYTE Sport is changing that.
Check out sponsored athlete profiles and signature series collections on rytesport.com.
YOU DEFINE THE SPORT
Ryte Sport is a SwimSwam partner.