Amie Barrow's story: first female swimmer to represent Gambia at the Olympics
Amie Barrow is a UK-born Gambian competitive swimmer based in the United States. Becoming the first female swimmer in history to represent The Gambia at international competitions is one of her greatest athletic achievements, as she aspires to become a professional doctor.
It's a huge honour to be the first woman to represent The Gambia in swimming, though it is disheartening that the term 'first woman' still has to be used in 2024.
Source: Instagram
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Amie Barrow made her international swimming debut for The Gambia at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships and later represented the country at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
- The swimmer holds the national record for The Gambia in the 50, 100, and 200-metre breaststroke as of 2025.
- Barrow is pursuing a medical program at Brown University with hopes of becoming a surgical oncologist.
Amie Barrow's profile summary
| Full name | Aminata Nia-Maria Barrow |
| Date of birth | January 2, 2004 |
| Age | 21 years old (as of September 2025) |
| Place of birth | England, United Kingdom |
| Current residence | Wisconsin, United States |
| Nationality | The Gambia, Finland, the United States, and the United Kingdom |
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m/175 cm) |
| Recorded weight | 59 kg (130 pounds) |
| Parents | Monna Arvinen-Barrow, Kemo Barrow |
| Education | Brown University (Health & Human Biology and Business Economics) |
| Profession | Competitive swimmer |
| Strokes | Individual medley, breaststroke |
| Social media |
Amie Barrow's multicultural background
Amie Barrow, 21, was born on January 2, 2004, in the United Kingdom to a Gambian father, Kamo Barrow, and a Finnish mother, Monna Arvinen-Barrow. Her father still lives in The Gambia.
The athlete and her mother settled in Shorewood, Wisconsin, when she was young. She holds quadruple citizenship for Finland, The Gambia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She revealed in her 2022 NCSA Sports statement:
I am open to different climates and locations... I am also someone who can easily adapt to different cultural contexts and ways of life.
Barrow's mother, Monna, is an associate professor at UW-Milwaukee. She signed her up for baby swimming lessons when Amie was only three months old, and she has never stopped. She also participated in gymnastics before her mother told her to pick one sport.
Source: Original
A look at Amie Barrow's incredible swimming stats
Aminata Barrow began participating in swimming competitions at the age of eight after her family relocated to Shorewood, Wisconsin, United States. She swam for Shorewood High School and the Shorewood Swim Club.
In 2021, the swimmer was crowned the Wisconsin State Champion in the 100-yard breaststroke. She is also the Shorewood High School record holder for the 100-yard backstroke.
Barrow began swimming at the collegiate level in 2022 for the Brown Bears at Brown University, where she also competes in the Ivy League Championships. In the 2024 championships, she set her personal best by finishing 13th in the 100-meter breaststroke and 7th in the 200-meter breaststroke. Her personal records as of September 2025 include:
- 100 Breaststroke: 1:02.62 set on February 23, 2024
- 200 Breaststroke: 2:14.50 set on February 24, 2024
- 200 Individual medley: 2:02.85 set on November 17, 2023
Source: Getty Images
Amie Barrow's international career representing The Gambia
Barrow swims in international games for The Gambia. She holds the national records in the 50, 100, and 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley.
In 2023, Amie became the first female swimmer to compete for The Gambia at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. She achieved an outstanding time of 1:14.32 in the 100m breaststroke, beating the previous men's national record.
The swimmer then competed at the Africa Aquatics Swimming and Open Water Championships in Angola. She qualified to become the first woman to represent the tiny West African country at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Amie Barrow's Olympics results in the 100-meter breaststroke were 1:15.12, and she finished 36th in the preliminaries. The Gambia is one of the countries that has not won any Olympic medals. While discussing what it means to represent the nation, the athlete said in a July 2024 Brown University interview:
The past couple of years that I've been racing for Gambia have brought me a little bit closer to my culture, which has been really nice. Swimming as a whole isn't a very diverse sport, and there's not a ton of opportunity for swimming in Gambia right now… Hopefully, we can get more girls involved, because it is such a great sport.
Source: Getty Images
Amie Barrow is a pre-med student
Barrow has not let competitive athletics take her focus away from academics at the Ivy League school. She is part of the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), an eight-year medical program at Brown University that combines undergraduate and medical school education.
Amie's undergraduate major is health & human biology and business economics, according to her Brown University profile. She expects to graduate in 2026 and then commence her medical education at the Warren Alpert Medical School. Her goal is to specialise in surgical oncology.
The athlete plans to stop swimming competitively after her collegiate career. She is not sure if she will compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Source: Instagram
Final word
Amie Barrow has yet to win major medals, but her athletic career trajectory in US championships and in international competitions has been great. Her achievements are an inspiration to young girls, especially from The Gambia.
READ MORE: Tatjana Schoenmaker: age, education, images, Olympic record, profiles
Briefly.co.za published the biography of Johannesburg-born Olympic swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker. She is one of South Africa's most decorated Olympians.
Tatjana won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting a world record of 2:18.95. She won gold in the 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was a gold medalist at the 2023 World Championships.
Source: Briefly News
