Talia Thompson moved from Bermuda to Texas in October 2019 and enrolled at Grace Community School.
“My mom actually has an aunt that lives in Murchison, so Tyler was kind of as close as we could get with a Christian School in swimming,” Thompson said.
Thompson joined the swim teams at Grace and East Texas Aquatics and made an immediate impact.
During her junior season after just arriving at Grace, Thompson won the Gold at the TAPPS State Meet in both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle. As a senior, Thompson had a second-place finish at state in the 50 Freestyle and third in the 100 Freestyle, and she was on the 200 Freestyle Relay team that won Gold and the 200 Medley Relay team that won Silver.
Thompson will now continue her career at Oklahoma Christian University as she signed with the school on Wednesday afternoon.
“I’ve been waiting for two years to get an offer from a college and getting an offer from OC was an absolute dream,” Thompson said. “It was a D2 college that had the academic program I wanted, along with incredible coaches. Both Noah (Yanchulis) and Josh (Davis) have been super engaged in the recruiting process, and it’s just been amazing to have them coaching me through everything.”
Thompson said she plans on majoring in exercise science and then getting a doctorate in physical therapy.
Thompson said she was originally a gymnast for seven years, but an injury changed that.
“I had an injury in my back, which really drove me into swimming because it released the pressure from my spine,” Thompson said. “So at first, I did it just to kind of give myself a bit of relief from gymnastics, but eventually I just grew to love the sport.”
Thompson said she is looking forward to meeting her new teammates but will also be joined at Oklahoma Christian by a familiar face — Tyler Legacy standout swimmer Chase Fields.
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