Alyssa Greymont brings home pair of golds from World Deaf Championships

Alyssa Greymont had plenty of help getting to San Antonio, Texas for the World Deaf Swimming Championship. And she thanked them by bringing home gold.
Greymont won first in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races, took home bronze in two relay races, fourth in the 400m individual medley and fifth in the 200m free.
She took home a third of the United States’ gold medals in the games and represented half of the swimmers who won gold for the US. That qualified her for the 2017 Deaflympics in Turkey.
Greymont is now the “top recruit” going into the 2017 games.
“Top recruit means I’m the one to watch,” Greymont said. “Every country, Germany, Russia, everyone is going to be looking for the top girl to beat. And that’s me.”
Greymont also took home friendships that she will cling to for a very long time.
“It was all about family. The first day I got there, I was so excited to meet everyone,” Greymont said. “I literally got everyone’s room number and went door-to-door to introduce myself.”
She said the swimmers from around the world exchanged group messages where there were hundreds of posts every day.
“We just became really close and we all miss each other,” Greymont said. “It’s such a community. Everyone just wants to hang out.”
It was among the first experiences Greymont had with a deaf community. She was struck by some humorous moments, especially when someone was trying to make a general announcement.
“Everyone had no idea what was going on. No one can hear,” Greymont said. “It was funny, you know. Someone would say something 10 times and no one would (react).”
Her coach Tom Lebherzt said Greymont has adapted well among the nondeaf community, but hasn’t learned sign language.
“It was a real experience for her … because nobody can hear. She had to pick up and watch. It was a great experience. Very positive,” Lebherzt said.
Although accommodations are starting to be made for Greymont at swim meets, it was the first time where Greymont got to experience a meet fully dedicated to the hearing impaired.
“It was so simple and they still had all the sounds with it,”
Greymont said.
The positive experience has opened the door for Greymont to continue to work with some of the best deaf swimmers in
the country.
Fellow American swimmer Marcus Titus—who won the other four golds for the US—is slated to come to Morgan Hill October 17 to train under Lebherzt.
The night before she left, Greymont said no one wanted the experience to end.
Greymont said she was so excited to be in the pool, to swim under the lights in front of crowds of people, she almost literally flew off the blocks.
“When we went in (the water), I just went (all) out,” Greymont said. “I was told the announcer said ‘and there Alyssa Greymont goes!”
She was so fast, her first 100 meters of the 800 meter race was almost as fast as her best time in the 100m free.
And despite getting tired toward the end of the race, she still posted a time that is roughly 4 seconds off the United States deaf record and 8 seconds off the world deaf record.
These are records that have stood since 1981. Her goal coming up is to break those records.
Greymont won the race by almost 12 seconds.
“I did die by about 500 (meters), but luckily because I had gone out so fast, it didn’t affect my race,” Greymont said.
And that race was just the start of her experience at the championships.
In her 400m IM race, she came out strong, swimming a 5:25.53 in the preliminaries.
Greymont said she was shocked to do that well because she hadn’t swum the IM in more than a year. She said she was expecting her time to be in the 5:30s or 5:40s.
But when she went into the finals, she said the rigger of the week was starting to catch up with her.
“Day 4 is always the hardest day. Because you are tired from everything else, it’s exhausting,” Greymont said. “But when I came back that night I went 5:22(.06). And while I was out touched for third place, it wasn’t bad. I had put everything I could in and I was really happy.”
The only race where Greymont missed the cut for the finals was the 100m free, missing out at being an alterant by a fraction of a second.
But even then, Greymont was happy because admittedly, the sprints—the 100m and 200m free races—are not her strongest events.
Despite that, she helped lead her relay team to a third place in the 4x200m and the 4x100m free relays.
Greymont said her last night in Texas was bittersweet, having to say goodbye to everyone.
“We were all crying. We had this dance party with horrible music. The lights were on. It was all messed up, but we made the best of it,” Greymont said. “Everyone stayed up until 3 in the morning even though we all left at 6 in the morning. None of us got any sleep.”
The success hasn’t put any added pressure to succeed, Greymont said, just a renewed focus to work hard.
“It makes me want to work harder. I still want to be the best,” Greymont said. “OK, I’m No. 1, I’ve got to stay there. It’s more exciting than anything.”
Greymont will now begin a fundraising push to raise $10,000 to allow her to go to Turkey in two years.
The Deaflympic games will run July 18-30, 2017 in Samsun, Turkey.