Artistic swimmer Ruby Remati, a native of Andover, Massachusetts, says when she was a little girl, she would write her goal on her mirror every day to make the national team.
Not only did she make the team to compete in Paris, but she helped bring home the silver — America's first Olympic medal in the sport in 20 years.
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"It hasn't even sunk in yet," she said Wednesday when asked what she would tell that little girl now. "I would say dreams come true. I can't believe I'm standing here with a silver medal. Literally every night, I've visualized this moment, and the fact that it's, like, reality right now is actually insane to me."
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At 14 years old, Remati decided to pursue her dream of competing in artistic swimming full-time, leaving Andover to train in California.
"I'm just so happy that, like, I've had so much support from my parents, my friends, my family," she said. "That's all that I'm thinking about right now, I'm just so happy that I can, like, get back to them and just be like, 'It's all worth it.'"
It's the first artistic swimming medal for Team USA since 2004, when Remati was watching on, inspired to chase her Olympic dreams.
