Rutgers Medical Student Competing as a Swimmer in the Rio Olympics
Anastasia Bogdanovski to swim 200-meter freestyle event for Macedonia
'Medical school has been a dream of mine for longer than going to the Olympics. I feel like I’m living someone else’s life. I tell everyone that when I start medical school I’ll be living my real life – and that’s the life I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.'– Anastasia Bogdanovski
Nothing could have kept Anastasia Bogdanovski from the first week of classes at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the White Coat Ceremony that marks the official beginning of a medical education – except a chance to compete in the Rio Olympics.
Bogdanovski, who has represented Macedonia in international swimming competitions over the past several years, will swim her first race August 8 at noon (EST) for the Balkan state in the 200-meter freestyle race at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She holds several records in Macedonia, a successor state of the former Yugoslavia that declared its independence in 1991. Both her parents were born in Macedonia, and she is a dual citizen.
Despite the brief delay, she is every bit as excited about attending Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as about the opportunity to practice and compete with some of the world’s best athletes.
“Medical school has been a dream of mine for longer than going to the Olympics,” she said the other day in a telephone interview between practices at a Baltimore swimming club, where Olympian Michael Phelps and other athletes are preparing for the games. “I feel like I’m living someone else’s life. I tell everyone that when I start medical school I’ll be living my real life – and that’s the life I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.”
Attending New Jersey Medical School is another part of fulfilling a dream. “I was drawn to the hands-on approach at New Jersey Medical School,” she said. “I expect to start working in a student-run clinic shortly after arriving on campus. Other schools were much more research-based and theoretical.”
Bogdanovski, 23, was a public health studies major at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who graduated in 2015 and plans to study sports medicine. She applied early decision to NJMS and took a one-year deferral to train for the Olympics, commuting on weekends back to her parents’ home in the Union County community of Fanwood.
She admits that she was a little flustered when she first learned that the “two most amazing events in my life” would take place simultaneously. She’s just grateful she was able to work things out with administrators at the medical school so she can catch up quickly when she arrives in New Jersey August 15, one week late.
“I would have loved to be part of the first week where everyone begins meeting each other and forming bonds and memories, and I wish I could be part of the rite of passage that is the white coat ceremony,” she said.
For the moment, her focus is on the swimming pool.
“I’m trying to think about Rio like any other meet,” said Bogdanovski, who left August 1 for Brazil, where she will be joined by her parents, her brother and a good friend from college. Her goal is to beat her personal best (2:01.28). She is the only female swimmer at the Olympics for Macedonia this year, although athletes from the country are competing in track, judo and air rifle.
These days it almost seems as if you need to start serious training as a youngster if you want to compete in the Olympics. For Bogdanovski, swimming wasn’t even her first sport as a child. She was a competitive horseback rider for many years and thought about becoming a veterinarian. But she switched from horseback riding to swimming after suffering a series of injuries.
The idea of international competitions didn’t occur to her until high school, when she began competing in swim races at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, and that was happenstance. One day she asked her uncle back in Macedonia to find her a bathing cap with the country’s flag so she could display her heritage with the brilliant red and yellow pattern. Her uncle contacted a coach for the national team, and he was impressed with her times, which beat Macedonian records.
“When he asked me to swim for the team, it was like a dream,” said Bogdanovski, who speaks Macedonian fluently. Later, at Johns Hopkins, she would help lead the varsity women’s team to a record-breaking third place finish, winning all five relays.
Thinking ahead to when she returns from Rio, Bogdanovski has been talking with coaches and exploring swim teams in New Jersey. She would like to keep training, which helps provide discipline in her life. But she has no illusions about becoming a professional athlete after the Olympics. She is actually small for a world-class swimmer at 5 feet 8 inches tall. Two friends who swim for the U.S. team are 6 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 4 inches.
“My coach says I’m small, but I’m mighty. I use my legs more than my arms so that helps me keep time,” she said. “I’m scrappy.”
In fact, she said, she’s not really that athletic. “Out of the water, I am not athletic. My coordination is lacking. People know me as a klutz. In the water, it’s a different story. I feel more connected to my body. I wouldn’t call myself graceful in the water. I’m efficient.”
Doubtless these are all qualities that will serve her well at medical school and in her medical career.
“I hope to help athletes maximize their potential and not be held back by injuries. I understand why athletes want to miss out on as little training as possible,” she said. “I’ve worked with physicians who specialize in treating athletes and those who don’t, and there is a big difference. Some physicians understand athletes are going to push themselves a little harder than they should, and they help keep them training through injuries as much as they can.”
For media inquiries, contact Carla Cantor at 848-932-0555 or ccantor@ucm.rutgers.edu.