CINCINNATI — Carson Foster returned to the halls of Sycamore High School on Monday, weeks after he earned two Olympic medals in swimming in Paris.
Foster graduated from Sycamore High School in December of 2019 — early, specifically so he could take a shot at getting on the USA's Olympic team. Before he was granted the honor, he'd already broken two records set by famous Olympian Michael Phelps.
In Paris, he earned a silver medal in the 4X200 relay and a bronze medal in the men's 400 meter individual medley.
Foster is a former Mason Manta Ray and currently a junior at the University of Texas.
At his alma mater on Monday, Foster led a pep rally then took time to speak with Sycamore's swim team and tour the school's new pool. He told students his dream of going to the Olympics came to be when he was a student at the high school.
"Probably when I was 14 or 15 my club coach, Ken Heis at the Mason Manta Rays sat me down and told me that I had a good shot to pursue the Olympics if I were to take it seriously," he said. "And I think that was the first time a coach had ever told me that.
After that, he headed to visit kids at Montgomery Elementary, where his mother is a teacher.
Foster's Olympic dreams were temporarily postponed in 2020, when he learned his early graduation from Sycamore High School wouldn't get him on the USA team — because the Olympics itself was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I graduated high school early to try and make a run at the team," said Foster, who spoke with WCPO sports reporter Mike Dyer in 2020. "So I kind of sacrificed a lot for this summer."
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