By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE country's most decorated and accomplished swimmer officially announced her return to a full-time commitment to the sport and will do so in new surroundings.
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace took to social media to announce that her hiatus from the sport has officially come to an end as she resumes her training with the University of North Carolina State's Wolfpack Elite.
"After a year away from competitive swimming I have made the decision to go back to full-time swimming," she said in a Facebook post. "I've learned so much about myself as well as the sport, since I had the opportunity to stay very much involved while I was working with the Auburn swimming and diving programme. I have so much respect for coach Brett Hawke as well as the entire staff over in Auburn. For personal reasons however, I just could not stay in Auburn and be mentally healthy there. I have decided to continue my career training with NC State Wolfpack Elite."
In May, Vanderpool-Wallace signed on as the director of operators for the Auburn Tigers' swimming and diving teams.
She also starred for the Tigers as a competitor during her amateur career where she was an 18-time All-American at Auburn, won 10 Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles and double NCAA titles in the 50m and 100m free in 2011.
"Thank you to everyone behind the scenes that has supported me through everything. It was not an easy decision, returning to the sport as well as deciding to leave Auburn. I am very grateful that Coach Todd DeSorbo and the NC State crew have accepted me with open arms. I am incredibly excited and can't wait to see what the future holds," she said.
The 27-year-old, who also represented the Bahamas at 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2007 Pan American Games and 2006 and 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, was scheduled to participate in the FINA World Championships this summer, but she opted not to make the trip.
At the CAC Games, she picked up four gold medals in the women's 50m and 100m free as well as both the 50m and 100m butterflies, setting the records of the game in the 100m free and 50m fly.
And at the Commonwealth Games as the flag bearer, she produced a silver in the 50m fly but was fourth in the 50m free and fifth in the 100m free.
In 2008, Vanderpool-Wallace became the youngest Bahamian ever to qualify for an Olympic Games when she earned the right to travel with the team to Beijing, China, just days before her 18th birthday.
In her Olympic debut, she finished 28th in the 100m free (55.61) and 24th in the 50m free (25.40).
At the London 2012 Olympics, she gained national acclaim when she became the first Bahamian swimmer to advance to an Olympic final and swam to an 8th place finish (24.69) in her speciality, the 50m freestyle.
In the Rio 2016 Olympics last summer, Vanderpool-Wallace was fourth in her 50m freestyle heat in 24.80 secs, ninth overall and one spot shy of advancing to the final.
After opting not to contest the 100m butterfly, she competed in the 100m freestyle where she was seventh in her heat in 54.56 secs for 18th place overall.
Following the Rio Olympics, she expressed her uncertainty about the future of her career.
"For now I don't know where my career is going to go, I'm just taking it day by day," she told The Tribune. "I don't have any plans for competing in the near future. Just looking at getting in shape and staying healthy this fall. If I don't compete again for the Bahamas I hope that I have inspired another generation to surpass me and take the Bahamas to even new heights whether it be in swimming, as any type of athlete or in life."
She made her unofficial return to the pool in her first race since the Olympics, at the recent Bahamas Swimming Federation RBC Nationals Championships last month.
Vanderpool-Wallace still holds the Bahamas national record in the women's 50 metres (24.31 secs), 100m free (53.73 secs), 50m fly (25.53 secs), 100m fly (58.87 secs) and 200m fly (2:21.67 secs).
She also shares the 200m free, 400m free, 800m free, 200m medley and 400m medley relay records with a combination of swimmers, including Alicia Lightbourne, Ashley Butler, Ariel Weech, Alana Dillette, Teisha Lightbourne, Jenna Chaplin and McKayla Lightbourn.
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