In Paris, a PLME student is the first woman in history to represent Gambia in a swimming event.
With quadruple citizenship across the United States, United Kingdom, Finland, and Gambia, Amie Barrow ’26 MD’30 had a world of options when it came to choosing where to attend college. But the rising junior’s curiosity was piqued by Providence, where she enrolled in Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education.
She’ll start her third year of the program in the fall—after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where she will compete in the 100-meter breaststroke as the first and only woman in history to represent Gambia in swimming.
“It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to do something for the first time—to represent the women and girls of Gambia,” Barrow said before the Games. “But it’s a little bit scary at the same time. I don’t think it’s fully hit me that I’m going to the Olympics.”
Though she’s been swimming at Brown for only two years, Barrow has been competing professionally since she was 8 years old, when she moved to Shorewood, WI, from her birthplace in the UK.
A fierce competitor in breaststroke events, her favorite race is the 200-meter, which she set a personal record in—along with the 100-meter—at the Ivy League Championships in February.
“Her Olympic dream is something that was developed at Brown,” says Kate Kovenock, head coach of the Brown women’s swimming and diving team. “As she got better, she realized representing Gambia on the highest stage was something she could really strive towards.”
Undeniably accomplished in the pool, Barrow also excels in the classroom as a PLME student. She is pursuing her undergraduate degree in health and human biology and business economics. When she graduates in 2026, she will begin her medical education at The Warren Alpert Medical School with an eye toward surgical oncology.
Continue reading about Barrow and other Olympians from Brown.
