Get to Know Tara Kirk Sell

Rebel Girls

Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Stories For Kids

4.5 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Meet Olympic swimmer and public health researcher Tara Kirk Sell. From breaking the 2004 world record in the 100 meter breaststroke to researching public health issues, Tara is a champion of change. Junior Reporter Laila sat down for a chat with Tara about chasing dreams, setting big goals, and pushing past obstacles.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.
0:08.4	Hi, Rebels. This is Good Night Stories to Rebel Girls, the interview. I'm your host,
0:13.6	Layla, and today we're talking to Olympic swimmer and public health researcher Tara Kirksell.
0:21.6	Welcome, Tara. Could you kick things off by telling us a little bit about yourself?
0:25.6	Hi, I'm Tara Kirksell. I'm from Bremerton, Washington, and I'm an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
0:33.6	Very cool. Back before you were a researcher, you were an athlete. When did you first fall in
0:39.6	love with swimming? I started swimming when I was 10, but I started swimming because I had to do rehab
0:45.4	after I broke my arm in gymnastics. And I had nerve damage and I just was a big mess. And so my sister,
0:53.5	who was younger than me, was actually the great swimmer.
0:56.7	And I sort of just decided to get in when she was going to practice.
1:00.3	And that's how I started swimming.
1:02.4	Oh, yeah, sisters are great motivation for trying something new.
1:05.8	When you got older, you two competed together on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic Swimming Team.
1:11.7	What was it like to go to the Olympics with your sister?
1:14.2	It was such an amazing experience to have my sister Dana on the Olympic swim team with me.
1:18.6	We didn't compete in the same event, so there's nothing that we had to be against each other for.
1:23.7	And we had this amazing experience that very few people have the chance to do.
1:28.0	We got to do it together.
1:29.2	And of course, you know, it increases the amount of nerves that you have for the situation
1:33.1	because you're not, you know, just thinking about doing well yourself.
1:37.2	You're also worried about how your sibling's going to do.
1:39.7	But at the same time, it's really meaningful to have someone there on the team who's on your side no matter what. That sounds like it will be really special. Do you have a favorite swimming event? My favorite event to swim is the hunter breaststroke. It's fast. It's a lot less painful than the longer events. And I had a natural aptitude for it. So for me, it was pure racing, not a lot of strategy, and just going out
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