Olympics 2024: Long Island's Kristen Romano floating on air with Puerto Rico swim team

Kristen Romano had come to an intersection at the edge of the pool — keep trying to make a splash in her sport or move on.

She was 15 and living in her native Lancaster, New York, near Buffalo, and she wasn’t thrilled with her swimming progress.

“I was considering quitting,” Romano said. “I was getting to that point where I was like, ‘Is this even worth it?’ … I just kind of like needed a change.”

She got a big one thanks to her parents.

Her mother, Brenda, spent much of her childhood in Brooklyn. So when Kristen had visited relatives there and on Long Island, she needed a place to train. She ended up at Long Island Aquatic Club at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow and practiced there with coach Dave Ferris, and she loved the experience.

Her brother, Gabe, attended college in Erie, Pennsylvania, and often came home to Lancaster. Brenda was a Spanish teacher and still a few years from retirement. So Kristen’s dad, Michael, a retired UPS manager, volunteered to move with her to Long Island so she could train and compete under Ferris.

They arrived in Long Beach in 2015 and stayed for her junior and senior years of high school while Brenda remained behind. Kristen’s swimming indeed progressed with Long Island Aquatic Club and Long Beach High School. Then she became an All-American at Ohio State.

Her dad, though, isn’t around to watch her now; he died from pancreatic cancer last year. He surely would have been so proud to see his 24-year-old daughter on Aug. 2, swimming for Puerto Rico at the Paris Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley. Her mother and brother will be there to see her dream come to life.

“My parents throughout my entire career, I owe everything to them,” Kristen said. “More than anything, the achievement of this goal is theirs more than it’s even mine because of all the sacrifices they have made throughout my career, and especially my dad, moving with me to Long Beach.

“He used to tell me all the time those two years that we spent, just the two of us on Long Island, were some of the most special memories that he had. It was really a chance for us to kind of make some really good memories. I will cherish those forever.”

Now this determined first-time Olympian will be creating some really good new memories for herself and her family.

“It’s hard to put into words, really, when you’ve just been working your whole life for that one goal, that one dream,” she said. “I think every athlete starts out with: ‘My goal is to go to the Olympics. My goal is to win a gold medal.’

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a career where that goal has kind of always stayed within my sights and within my reach, kind of like the saying goes, ‘The harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.’ ”

Her steady time with Long Island Aquatic Club lasted from 2015 to 2017.

Her triumphs included the 2017 NCSA junior national championship in the 400 IM. Romano is the first Olympian with ties to the club, which has sent several swimmers to the U.S. trials over the years, including Romano.

“We’re excited for her,” Ferris said. “She was always going to be good, but what took her to the next level was the ability to do the work, and the technique, and staying at it for a long period of time.”

Romano also enjoyed her time competing under head coach John Skudin and assistant Lynn Volosevich for two seasons with Long Beach, where she was a five-time All-American.

Her senior year came with repeats as the state champ in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100 backstroke, and she was on two winning relays at the state meet. Newsday named her Long Island Swimmer of the Year in 2016. “She’s still, to this day, one of the nicest, nicest kids, genuinely nice,” said Volosevich, who’s now the head coach for the Long Beach girls and boys teams.

Romano’s first attempt to make the Olympics came at the 2016 U.S. trials. Then, during her freshman year at Ohio State, she received a call from Fernando Olivero of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee. Her mom had often visited family in Puerto Rico when she was growing up.

“He knew some of my family that lived on the island and kind of made the connection,” Kristen said.

She will always remember his words.

“Would you like to come compete for Puerto Rico?” Olivero asked. “We’d love to have you.”

She grew up with a deep respect for her Puerto Rican heritage, but she said she sought the advice of Ferris, someone who “has always been a great mentor and coach for me.”

“He said, ‘Listen, that’s your choice, but it sounds like a great opportunity. And if it’s something that really helps you kind of connect to your family and connect with that part of your identity, then do it,’ ” Romano said.

“I am so unbelievably grateful that I got that phone call. Truly, it changed kind of the trajectory of my life and really helped connect me so much more to my family and my identity.”

Romano has been competing for Puerto Rico since 2018 and owns records in five events. Romano also struck gold five times and took two bronze medals across two trips to the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships.

She just missed making Puerto Rico’s contingent for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Brenda said her daughter was “really, really bummed about that.”

Then Michael, who did come back to Lancaster over the summer during those Long Island days while Kristen stayed with relatives in Oyster Bay, had his cancer return in 2022 after being in remission.

“It would be easy to say, ‘Look, my dad’s sick; I have to be home,’ ” Brenda said. “He said, ‘Absolutely not. You are not coming home. We’ll make a deal. I’ll keep fighting. You keep fighting.’ And they did.”

Kristen graduated from Ohio State that year, trained with Long Island Aquatic Club in the summer and then moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in the fall. She turned professional and joined a group of pros that trained at the University of Tennessee and swam with Tennessee Aquatics. She came home a few times before her dad died the following February.

She persevered and ultimately earned her way to Paris, getting selected off her time of 2 minutes, 13.09 seconds in winning at the Atlanta Classic on May 18.

“It’s funny because she’s a very relaxed girl,” Volosevich said. “If you speak to her, she’s not uptight or anything like that. But she’s highly motivated in her work ethic.

“She set out for what she wanted and she got there, and most people don’t. She got there and stayed humble.”

Romano began swimming at age 3 and competing at around 5. Brenda said Kristen watched the Olympics when she was young and said, “I’m going to do that.”

She’s about to do that.

“Beyond proud,” Brenda said. “It’s surreal, actually.”

Romano is on track to graduate in December from a University of Florida master’s program in sport management and sport law and is looking to eventually become a sports agent.

But her immediate goal is to enjoy this Olympic experience.

“I’ve been training really, really well,” Romano said. “More than anything, I’m just excited to kind of go and compete with the best athletes in the world and just represent Puerto Rico in the best way that I can. I think I’m going to perform really well — knock on wood.”