WashU student sets her sights on 2024 Paris Olympics

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- St. Louis has a long history of producing Olympic athletes. The next Olympian with ties to St. Louis might be a student at Washington University who’s studying math and physics.

Bryn Muller got started in the sport of windsurfing at a young age while growing up in Florida. Now she’s set her sights on competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“I started windsurfing when I was going into my 8th grade year. And I started by doing a sailing camp at my local sailing centers. And I just really fell in love with it,” Muller said.

Muller got her first taste of what Olympic competition might be like when she represented the U.S. last year at the Junior Pan Am Games. She placed third in the competition.

“And it was super cool to experience and to compete at that level,” she said.

Muller’s a sophomore at WashU where she’s a member of the university rowing team. The next step in her quest is to take a leave of absence from her studies, starting with the spring semester. She’ll be training full-time in the Olympic Development Program, where she’ll get instruction from world-class coaches.

Windsurfing has been an Olympic sport for men since 1984 and for women since 1992. For the 2024 games, athletes will use a board that has a hydrofoil on the bottom. The hydrofoil is like an underwater wing that lifts the board, allowing athletes to sail above the water and at higher speeds.

Muller said as her love of windsurfing grew, so did her desire to compete in the Olympics.

“I don’t think it gets much better than getting to represent your country at the highest level,” said Muller.

You can see videos of Muller windsurfing and learn more about her efforts to reach the 2024 Paris Olympic games at her website.

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