This Olympic Swimmer Gets Her Best Sleep In Her College Dorm Room

In Chill Chat, Bustle sits down with stars to chat about all things wellness, from daily routines to hacks for getting a good night’s sleep. Here, Team USA swimmers Erin Gemmell and Claire Weinstein share how they stay motivated, take care of their mental health, and their favorite memories with teammate Katie Ledecky.

When you watch an athlete compete at the very top of their sport, it can be easy to forget just how young they are... until they credit their ability to wake up for 5 a.m. practice to the tranquil environment of their — *checks notes* — college dorm room.

“The last thing I do before bed is a nice little yap session with my roommate,” says Erin Gemmell, 19. “It’s easier to wind down when you’re having a conversation in the dark instead of staring at a phone screen.”

She was well-rested enough to help Team USA clinch a silver medal in the Olympic 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Aug. 1, swimming alongside teammates Katie Ledecky, Claire Weinstein, and Paige Madden.

Gemmell was born into a Maryland family of competitive swimmers (her dad Bruce has coached Ledecky). This fall, she’ll be a sophomore at the University of Texas, where she swims competitively.

Her teammate Weinstein, 17, is even younger. During the 200-meter free, she swam the fastest split among the team (a hair under one minute and 55 seconds), beating her own personal record and becoming the fourth-fastest American woman in the event’s history. The New York-born athlete has verbally committed to swimming for the University of California, Berkeley in 2025.

Below, Gemmell and Weinstein explain how they stay focused while training up to 13 times a week and what it’s like to do Ledecky’s nails.

So many kids dream of being in the Olympics. You actually did it. What does that feel like?

Gemmell: As a kid, you don’t really get how big of a dream it is. When I was 7, I just sort of expected that if I kept going at swimming, I would eventually hit an Olympic medal, which I’ve realized is not how it works at all. The odds were kind of catastrophically slim that I would be able to tough it out and have all the right circumstances to get to this point. It’s wild, and I’m so happy.

How do you stay motivated when training gets difficult?

Weinstein: You’re probably going to have more bad days than good days. And on bad days, you have to come out of practice learning something and recognizing that you did something good — even if you didn’t do the time you wanted or succeed as well as you wanted, you’re getting better.

Gemmell: Every day matters, but not in the sense that it needs to be perfect.

What’s your daily routine? Your workout routine?

Weinstein: Anywhere from eight to 11 swim practices a week, and we usually lift twice a week. And obviously half of those are morning practices at 5 a.m. So, a typical day, I would be waking up at 4 a.m., practicing 5 to 7, eat breakfast, do some schoolwork, get some recovery and eat lunch, go to late practice, dinner, go to sleep, and then do it again the next day.

How do you get up at 4 a.m.?

Gemmell: A lot of the struggle is like, I got to put my phone down. So at 9 or 10 p.m., I know I have to do it or else I’ll feel the consequences.

How do you take care of your mental health?

Weinstein: My biggest struggle is getting very anxious and doubting myself. People joke about self-affirmations, but they really help me — in the pool, just reassuring myself that I’ve trained for this, I’m prepared, I can do this.

Gemmell: Journaling really helps me. I can throw every single thing that’s in my brain on a page in my worst possible handwriting that no one could ever read, and then it’s on the page and not in my head. It’s like, get it out, let it go. We’re moving on.

Any other favorite kinds of self-care?

Weinstein: I love essential oils. I have a diffuser at home.

Gemmell: I’m a big fan of making myself do nothing, because a lot of the time, if there’s anything I could possibly be working on, I feel like I need to get it done. So usually on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, I schedule times where I know I’m not going to be doing anything. I’ll just watch a show or read a book for fun. It really helps me recharge.

What’s your favorite memory with Katie Ledecky?

Weinstein: The 2022 World Championships in Budapest. It was the first time I’d ever met her. I was so nervous, and just having her and Leah Smith as veterans in the ready room really helped me. She’s just a really good person to look up to.

Gemmell: Last summer, I was watching her do her own nails, and I said please, let me do it instead. It’s really nice to have some normal, non-athlete kind of sleepover “girl time” activity where we can just chat. I get to do someone’s nails, which I love, and she gets a cute set of nails out of it.

What’s next for you?

Weinstein: I can’t really take much of a break because I have Open Water World Juniors in Italy next month. I have to do a 7.5K in the ocean. Honestly, I think most swimmers will agree they hate taking time off because getting back in shape is literally the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. You just feel horrible in the water. After a week off, it takes three weeks to feel good again.

Gemmell: This past year, I was doing my best to embrace college swimming, but always in the back of my head was, “the Olympics are coming” — this impending doom kind of thing. I’m really excited to get back into my sophomore year with a little bit more experience, live in the moment more, and have fun.