Meet 4 athletes with ties to Seacoast NH

Four athletes with ties to Seacoast New Hampshire — all women — will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. All are veterans of at least one Olympic Games.

Dover native Jessica Parratto, a third-time Olympic competitor, is hoping to win a second medal in synchronized diving with her partner Delaney Schnell.

Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and former NCAA champion, is competing in her second Olympics in the 1,500 meters. She holds U.S. indoor track and field records in the mile, two miles and 3,000.

Rowers Molly Reckford, a 2011 graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy, and Michelle Sechser, who lived and trained in Portsmouth before the Tokyo Olympics, will once again partner in the women’s lightweight double sculls.

Here’s a detailed look at the local Olympians and how to watch their events:

Jessica Parratto, Dover, Women’s Synchronized Diving

This will be the third Olympics for Dover native Jessica Parratto, who teamed with diving partner Delaney Schnell to win silver in the women’s 10-meter synchronized diving event at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The same duo will compete together in Paris.

When she returned to New Hampshire in August 2021, the city of Dover honored Parratto with a ceremony at Henry Law Park. She was also honored by the Boston Red Sox, who threw out a first pitch at Fenway Park.

After her freshman year at Dover High School, Parratto, now 30, moved with her family to Indiana, where she has spent much of her life pursuing her Olympic dreams.

In 2021 in Tokyo, Parratto and Schnell won the first medal for Team USA in the event. The Chinese duo of Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi won gold. At the 2016 Games in Rio, Parratto placed seventh on the individual platform and Schnell won bronze. The two teamed up for the 2020 Games after Schnell’s partner was injured at the U.S. trials.

“It’s a bit of a relief,” Parratto said after winning silver, “but I think it’s just a feeling of being very satisfied and at peace with everything.”

Parratto and Schnell qualified for this year’s Olympic Games when they won the women’s 10-meter synchronized diving competition at the U.S. Olympic Qualifying Trials in Knoxville, Tennessee, in late June.

“Jess and I finally made it happen,” Schnell said after winning the medal in Tokyo. “We had to have a lot of trust in each other, a lot of trust in each other that paid off.” Now they are ready to fight for another medal in Paris.

More: ‘Absolutely worth it’: Olympian Jessica Parratto feels the love from her hometown of Dover

How to Watch Jessica Parratto at the Olympics: Women’s 10m Synchro Diving with Delaney Schnell

WEDNESDAY JULY 31: FINAL

Time: 05:00 AM (EST)

Location: Olympic Swimming Center

Current: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

Elle Purrier St. Pierre, University of New Hampshire, runner

Runner Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and inducted into the UNH Hall of Fame in the class of 2024, qualified to compete in two events at the Paris Olympics: the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters.

First, Purrier St. Pierre, 29, outpaced Elise Cranny at the finish line to claim victory in the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Then she qualified for the 1,500 meters, running a personal best of 3 minutes, 55.99 seconds in the qualifying final.

She has said she will only compete in the 1,500 in Paris. In 2021 in Tokyo, Purrier St. Pierre reached the final of the 1,500 and finished 10th with a time of 4:01.75.

More: Twice as beautiful: UNH top athlete Purrier St. Pierre qualifies for the Olympic Games in Paris in the 2nd event

Purrier St. Pierre, who competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is perhaps the most successful student-athlete in UNH history.

She is an 11-time All-American – including an NCAA national champion – and a 17-time America East champion. Her national title came in the mile at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She was named UNH’s Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year in 2018.

Purrier St. Pierre’s personal story is well-known: She grew up on a farm in Vermont, married her husband who grew up on a nearby farm, which they still run, and gave birth to their son in March 2023. And she’s running faster than ever. In February, she broke her own national record in the indoor mile. Three weeks later, she set another American record by winning gold in the 3,000 meters at the World Championships in Scotland.

How to Watch Elle Purrier St. Pierre at the Olympics: Women’s 1500m

TUESDAY AUG 6: FIRST ROUND

Time: 4:05 p.m. (EST)

Location: Stadium of France

Current: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.

WEDNESDAY AUG 7: REVIEW ROUND (if necessary)

Time: 6:45 PM (EST)

Location: Stadium of France

Current: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.

Thursday August 8: SEMI-FINALS

Time: 1:35 PM (EST)

Location: Stadium of France

Current: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.

SATURDAY 10 AUG: FINAL

Time: 2:25 PM (EST)

Location: Stadium of France

TV: NBC

Current: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com.

Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford, rowing

Olympic rowers Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser both have local ties. Reckford is a 2011 graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy in New Jersey who also graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Sechser, a native of California, has been living and training in Portsmouth ahead of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. That year, Reckford and Sechser finished fifth in the women’s lightweight double sculls final.

In Paris, Sechser and Reckford will team up again, representing Team USA in the women’s lightweight double sculls.

This will be the last Olympic Games in which lightweight rowing will compete. Sechser has won three World Championship medals, all in the lightweight double sculls. She won back-to-back silver in 2022 and 2023, and bronze in 2017.