By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor
Emily Brunemann Klueh was an elite swimming star on the national stage as a student at Notre Dame, at the University of Michigan and as a professional competitor.
Emily Brunemann Klueh
She won an NCAA championship, was named a Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and competed professionally until 2016. She was the first American woman to win the FINA Open Water World Cup Circuit. She won the 10k at the Open Water Nationals in 2009 and was a member of the U.S. National Team for 10 years. She was named USA Swimming’s Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year. And much more.
Yet she struggled, she said in an interview with Health Magazine, with “anxiety, body image, disordered eating patterns and confidence” and sought mental health therapy.
This path led her to her own determination to become a therapist. She had a “passion,” she said, for passing along lessons and experiences to others.
Today, at the invitation of the U.S. Olympics committee, Klueh is in Tokyo as a mental health officer serving Paralympic athletes. She has been there throughout the competitions, helping others who are facing the same mental health issues she fully understands. She understands the importance of helping athletes care for their minds as well as their bodies.
Emily is the daughter of Jim and Mary Lynn Brunemann (Mary Lynn is an asst. vp with the St. Elizabeth Foundation) of Crescent Springs and the granddaughter of the late Sen. Dick Roeding.
“When Emily was swimming, we all thought swimming was the goal,” said her mom, Mary Lynn. “But we were mistaken – swimming was really a journey to her real goal.”
Emily and Michael Klueh (Photo /USA Swimming News)
And that goal was helping others.
As a Paralympics mental health officer — there are two — she is somebody the athletes can turn to when they experience failure or hardship — or any crisis. She will help them manage the expected post-Olympic depression so they can move forward with their lives.
Today’s athletes have the added burden of the COVID pandemic in addition to the pressures of competition, adding to Emily’s responsibilities as well.
Emily lives in Michigan with her husband, Michael, whom she met at Olympics Trials in 2008, and their two-year-old daughter. She is a Mental Health counselor for the University of Michigan’s Athletic Department and owns her own consulting business.
She celebrates her 24-year swimming career by encouraging others to “have fun” at the sport — and to build grit and resiliency along the way.
