Myriam Glez: Four Olympic Games for four different countries
After competing for the French National Team at the Sydney Olympics, Myriam retired from Synchronized Swimming to attend business school. She worked for Accorhotels in marketing and sponsorship in France, Thailand and Australia and eventually resumed her sporting career to compete for the Australian National Team in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Following her second retirement, Myriam combined her business and sport knowledge to return to sport and worked in high performance and sport management in England and in the U.S for several years before founded Athletes Soul.
Where are you from?
I was born in Lyon, France. I have an older step-brother who lived with us when I was little and then it was just me and my parents.
When and how did you start synchronized swimming?
I grew up in a family of skiers. We spent a lot of time in the mountains in winter and summer. So there was no background in swimming in my family but I always loved the water. I saw Muriel Hermine (a famous French synchronized swimmer) on TV and knew this is what I wanted to do. It took me about a year to convince my mum to look into it. I was six when she finally registered me with the local club.
Can you give us a summary of your career?
I had abilities for the sport and pretty quickly I started training five days per week. We lived pretty far from the pool and, in middle school, it would take me 1.5 hours to get to practice from school. I would take the regional bus, then the city bus, the subway and another bus. But I had all my friends at swimming and I loved it so I never thought of it as difficult. I would use the travel time to do my homework.
I competed in age group national championships from 10 years old on. I won my first national championships at 12 and participated in youth national team every year after that. At 15, I moved to the National Training Center in Paris to train for the Junior World Championships. Then, I made the senior national team and participated in many international competitions: winning the silver and bronze medals in European championships and cups, placing in top five at world championships and cups, and fourth at the 2000 Olympic Games. I was promoted to the duet after Sydney and competed for another two years with the French Team. I retired at the end of 2002 and then went to business school. I returned to the sport at the end of 2005 to compete in the Beijing Olympics for Australia in 2008, placing seventh.
When did you retire?
My first retirement was in 2002 after the World Cup. My second retirement was in 2008 after the Beijing Olympics.
How did it come about?
In 2002, I got accepted to one of the top three business schools in Paris. I started school the day after we returned from the World Cup. After the competition, I was invited to a meeting with the federation during which I was asked to choose between school and synchro. At first, I didn’t really understand what was going on. My school was being very supportive and had offered incredible flexibility so that I could continue to train and compete. This was a year away from the World Championships and two from the Athens Olympics. We were top five in the world. At that time, there was a lot of turmoil between the team and the coaches and, in the end, I chose to go to school because I didn’t want to compromise my future.
That seems like a very difficult decision. Did you struggle with that?
It was definitely very difficult and I had a lot of anger directed to my sport, my coaches and the federation. But I was so busy I didn’t have time to think about the decision I had just made. I completely focused on my studies. I opted to do my school in the apprentice program so I could work and go to school at the same time. I was super busy, going to work during the day and school in the evenings and coaching synchro on the weekends. Eventually the negative feelings dissipated and I was able to look back at my career from a more positive angle.
How long was your transition period?
My transition was pretty long. At first, I was really busy with school and work so I didn’t really pay attention to the changes. I was also in a dance group, running cross country and part of the swim club at school. So I was busy and still pretty fit. My third year after retirement, I did an exchange program in Thailand. This time was both challenging and fantastic and it definitely changed me. At the beginning I did a lot of partying, but then I ended up traveling throughout Southeast Asia with my best friend and this was the most incredible time. It gave me a lot of perspective on my life. But I do remember watching the Athens Olympics from a hotel room in Singapore and being pretty emotional. At the time, I was still bitter and angry at my federation for asking me to choose between sport and academics. We ended up leaving Thailand the morning of the tsunami to travel to New Zealand.
What did you do after that?
I returned to Paris, went back to work and finished my studies. I worked for a Accor Hotels and my department was dealing with the aftermath of the tsunami. I remember this being very difficult and I also had a really hard time readjusting to life in Paris. I ended up taking a job in Australia. At first the job was a six-month contract but my colleague left and they offered me her position, so I stayed.
That was fast. How was it living in Australia?
It was hard at first as my English wasn’t good enough, and even though I was with the same company, the working culture was very different from what I had experienced in Paris. It took me several months to adjust, but I absolutely loved living in Sydney. I ended up staying seven years, meeting my husband and having my daughter there.
How did you end up going back to synchronized swimming?
I called Synchro Australia to ask about a synchro club in Sydney. My goal was to coach so I could meet more people and build my social network. There was no club in Sydney but they encouraged me to participate in the upcoming National Championship. I went to the competition, swum one of my old solos and won. I went back to work the next Monday and received a call asking me if I would consider swimming for the Australia team. I thought it was a joke. I didn’t really consider this a possibility but my company - Accor - did everything to support me so I decided to do it. I definitely couldn’t have done it without their generosity. I was able to come into the office late and leave early and travel for training and competitions, and they were supporting me financially. It was incredible and very extremely generous of them.
How was it training and competing for another country?
I was really excited to train with the Australian team because they had a Russian coach who had coached one of the best duets in the world, and I wanted to learn from her. Russia was (and still is) the dominant country in synchronized swimming. But going back after a three-year break was physically challenging and the sport had changed dramatically. It was faster, more intense and more acrobatic. I was also coming as an outsider taking the spot of one of the younger girls. I can only imagine how they felt about it, but they never showed me any resentment. Although Australia wasn’t as competitive as the French team, I remembered the training being intense and hard. I learned a lot from the coaches and my teammates. I was older and had to really take care of myself to recover. I also was enjoying myself more because I had been there before and I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to do it again. In the end, it allowed me to finish my career on a positive note and to love the sport again. I was really proud of what that team achieved in Beijing.
What did you do after Beijing?
I took some time off! I needed it. Then I went back to work. I had my daughter. I became a Pilates instructor. I was also managing the Sydney Emerald synchro club which I had started with my coach Katarina Poorova.
Was this transition different from the first one?
Absolutely. This time, I had chosen to retire and had made peace with my sport and my career. It felt pretty natural to move on.
Did you continue to be involved in your sport?
After my first retirement, I stayed away from the sport. But the second time around, I didn’t need to do that. I coached for several years in Sydney, I ended up coaching the senior and youth national teams when we moved to England and I worked for USA Synchronized Swimming when we moved to the U.S.
Tell us about your career outside of sports.
I worked for Accor hotels in the sponsorship department while I was in business school. I ended up working on projects like the track and field world championships, the Paris candidacy for the 2012 Games, the French Open of Golf, and the French Olympic Committee. It was really interesting to see the other side of the sport industry. When I moved to Australia, I worked in marketing for various hotel brands and was in charge also of sponsorship activations.
What do you do now?
I have founded Athletes Soul with several others to support athletes as they transition out of sports. I am also an advisor for a sport start-up called GameKeepr and I fundraise for my child’s public school.
Do you still practice your sport?
I have been doing Pilates and yoga for several years now and I walk a lot with my husband. Recently I started going to a master synchro class on Sundays. I miss swimming more than I miss synchronized swimming. I love the physical exhaustion and feeling of a good swim workout.
What was the most challenging part of transitioning from sport?
For several years, I was running after something, grabbing every opportunity that came up, unconsciously trying to prove something to myself. It was my motivation for everything I did. I realized that it was a direct reaction to not having closure with my career. I think it would have been beneficial to articulate this feeling.
The cultural shift to the corporate world was another challenging part for me. I am a very active person and I need to keep busy. I also like to be in control and to see the results of my actions. It was definitely challenging working for a very large company. I was behaving at work like I did at training. I was often too intense and there was definitely lots of time when I was impatient, bored and oblivious to corporate politics.
Who helped you during your transition?
I never really talked to anybody about my transition. I had no contact with my former teammates or coaches. I shared some things with my best friend, mostly angry feelings but, in general, I simply avoided the topic. I think it was just easier. Recently, I recently had the opportunity to talk about it with my former duet partner.
Do you feel you could have done things differently?
It is hard to say. I could have fought harder to stay on the French team. But the best things in my life happened after I left that team so I wouldn’t want to trade any of it. It gave me the opportunity to go to school, to focus on other things, meet incredible people and to travel and live in other countries.
I was born in Lyon, France. I have an older step-brother who lived with us when I was little and then it was just me and my parents.
When and how did you start synchronized swimming?
I grew up in a family of skiers. We spent a lot of time in the mountains in winter and summer. So there was no background in swimming in my family but I always loved the water. I saw Muriel Hermine (a famous French synchronized swimmer) on TV and knew this is what I wanted to do. It took me about a year to convince my mum to look into it. I was six when she finally registered me with the local club.
Can you give us a summary of your career?
I had abilities for the sport and pretty quickly I started training five days per week. We lived pretty far from the pool and, in middle school, it would take me 1.5 hours to get to practice from school. I would take the regional bus, then the city bus, the subway and another bus. But I had all my friends at swimming and I loved it so I never thought of it as difficult. I would use the travel time to do my homework.
I competed in age group national championships from 10 years old on. I won my first national championships at 12 and participated in youth national team every year after that. At 15, I moved to the National Training Center in Paris to train for the Junior World Championships. Then, I made the senior national team and participated in many international competitions: winning the silver and bronze medals in European championships and cups, placing in top five at world championships and cups, and fourth at the 2000 Olympic Games. I was promoted to the duet after Sydney and competed for another two years with the French Team. I retired at the end of 2002 and then went to business school. I returned to the sport at the end of 2005 to compete in the Beijing Olympics for Australia in 2008, placing seventh.
When did you retire?
My first retirement was in 2002 after the World Cup. My second retirement was in 2008 after the Beijing Olympics.
How did it come about?
In 2002, I got accepted to one of the top three business schools in Paris. I started school the day after we returned from the World Cup. After the competition, I was invited to a meeting with the federation during which I was asked to choose between school and synchro. At first, I didn’t really understand what was going on. My school was being very supportive and had offered incredible flexibility so that I could continue to train and compete. This was a year away from the World Championships and two from the Athens Olympics. We were top five in the world. At that time, there was a lot of turmoil between the team and the coaches and, in the end, I chose to go to school because I didn’t want to compromise my future.
That seems like a very difficult decision. Did you struggle with that?
It was definitely very difficult and I had a lot of anger directed to my sport, my coaches and the federation. But I was so busy I didn’t have time to think about the decision I had just made. I completely focused on my studies. I opted to do my school in the apprentice program so I could work and go to school at the same time. I was super busy, going to work during the day and school in the evenings and coaching synchro on the weekends. Eventually the negative feelings dissipated and I was able to look back at my career from a more positive angle.
How long was your transition period?
My transition was pretty long. At first, I was really busy with school and work so I didn’t really pay attention to the changes. I was also in a dance group, running cross country and part of the swim club at school. So I was busy and still pretty fit. My third year after retirement, I did an exchange program in Thailand. This time was both challenging and fantastic and it definitely changed me. At the beginning I did a lot of partying, but then I ended up traveling throughout Southeast Asia with my best friend and this was the most incredible time. It gave me a lot of perspective on my life. But I do remember watching the Athens Olympics from a hotel room in Singapore and being pretty emotional. At the time, I was still bitter and angry at my federation for asking me to choose between sport and academics. We ended up leaving Thailand the morning of the tsunami to travel to New Zealand.
What did you do after that?
I returned to Paris, went back to work and finished my studies. I worked for a Accor Hotels and my department was dealing with the aftermath of the tsunami. I remember this being very difficult and I also had a really hard time readjusting to life in Paris. I ended up taking a job in Australia. At first the job was a six-month contract but my colleague left and they offered me her position, so I stayed.
That was fast. How was it living in Australia?
It was hard at first as my English wasn’t good enough, and even though I was with the same company, the working culture was very different from what I had experienced in Paris. It took me several months to adjust, but I absolutely loved living in Sydney. I ended up staying seven years, meeting my husband and having my daughter there.
How did you end up going back to synchronized swimming?
I called Synchro Australia to ask about a synchro club in Sydney. My goal was to coach so I could meet more people and build my social network. There was no club in Sydney but they encouraged me to participate in the upcoming National Championship. I went to the competition, swum one of my old solos and won. I went back to work the next Monday and received a call asking me if I would consider swimming for the Australia team. I thought it was a joke. I didn’t really consider this a possibility but my company - Accor - did everything to support me so I decided to do it. I definitely couldn’t have done it without their generosity. I was able to come into the office late and leave early and travel for training and competitions, and they were supporting me financially. It was incredible and very extremely generous of them.
How was it training and competing for another country?
I was really excited to train with the Australian team because they had a Russian coach who had coached one of the best duets in the world, and I wanted to learn from her. Russia was (and still is) the dominant country in synchronized swimming. But going back after a three-year break was physically challenging and the sport had changed dramatically. It was faster, more intense and more acrobatic. I was also coming as an outsider taking the spot of one of the younger girls. I can only imagine how they felt about it, but they never showed me any resentment. Although Australia wasn’t as competitive as the French team, I remembered the training being intense and hard. I learned a lot from the coaches and my teammates. I was older and had to really take care of myself to recover. I also was enjoying myself more because I had been there before and I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to do it again. In the end, it allowed me to finish my career on a positive note and to love the sport again. I was really proud of what that team achieved in Beijing.
What did you do after Beijing?
I took some time off! I needed it. Then I went back to work. I had my daughter. I became a Pilates instructor. I was also managing the Sydney Emerald synchro club which I had started with my coach Katarina Poorova.
Was this transition different from the first one?
Absolutely. This time, I had chosen to retire and had made peace with my sport and my career. It felt pretty natural to move on.
Did you continue to be involved in your sport?
After my first retirement, I stayed away from the sport. But the second time around, I didn’t need to do that. I coached for several years in Sydney, I ended up coaching the senior and youth national teams when we moved to England and I worked for USA Synchronized Swimming when we moved to the U.S.
Tell us about your career outside of sports.
I worked for Accor hotels in the sponsorship department while I was in business school. I ended up working on projects like the track and field world championships, the Paris candidacy for the 2012 Games, the French Open of Golf, and the French Olympic Committee. It was really interesting to see the other side of the sport industry. When I moved to Australia, I worked in marketing for various hotel brands and was in charge also of sponsorship activations.
What do you do now?
I have founded Athletes Soul with several others to support athletes as they transition out of sports. I am also an advisor for a sport start-up called GameKeepr and I fundraise for my child’s public school.
Do you still practice your sport?
I have been doing Pilates and yoga for several years now and I walk a lot with my husband. Recently I started going to a master synchro class on Sundays. I miss swimming more than I miss synchronized swimming. I love the physical exhaustion and feeling of a good swim workout.
What was the most challenging part of transitioning from sport?
For several years, I was running after something, grabbing every opportunity that came up, unconsciously trying to prove something to myself. It was my motivation for everything I did. I realized that it was a direct reaction to not having closure with my career. I think it would have been beneficial to articulate this feeling.
The cultural shift to the corporate world was another challenging part for me. I am a very active person and I need to keep busy. I also like to be in control and to see the results of my actions. It was definitely challenging working for a very large company. I was behaving at work like I did at training. I was often too intense and there was definitely lots of time when I was impatient, bored and oblivious to corporate politics.
Who helped you during your transition?
I never really talked to anybody about my transition. I had no contact with my former teammates or coaches. I shared some things with my best friend, mostly angry feelings but, in general, I simply avoided the topic. I think it was just easier. Recently, I recently had the opportunity to talk about it with my former duet partner.
Do you feel you could have done things differently?
It is hard to say. I could have fought harder to stay on the French team. But the best things in my life happened after I left that team so I wouldn’t want to trade any of it. It gave me the opportunity to go to school, to focus on other things, meet incredible people and to travel and live in other countries.
