Calkins: How a kid from Germantown made his Olympic dream come true
Taylor Knibb, left, Morgan Pearson, Taylor Spivey and Seth Rider, right, of the United States, pose during a medal ceremony for the mixed relay triathlon at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Yes, America, Seth Rider’s mother taught him to wash his hands.
Of course she did.
Mary Rider confirmed it the other day, during a phone call from Paris.
During which she also wondered: Can everyone move on from the washing of hands?
Seth Rider has now won a silver medal in the mixed triathlon relay.
Not bad for a kid who learned to swim at the Germantown Athletic Club, who declared — when he was just 16-years-old — that he wanted to be an Olympian.
And now Rider, 27, is not just an Olympian, he is a silver medalist.
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