On Monday, Cochranville’s Cierra Runge, returned as a first-time Olympian and gold medalist to the Jennersville YMCA, the place that taught her how to swim when she was only four.

Part of Team USA’s gold medal winning women’s 4×200 freestyle relay team, Runge got the chance to reconnect with her former coaches and members of the current Jennersville Barracudas swim team at the West Grove site for a celebratory meet-and-greet.

“I’d swim for two hours in the morning, then go to a Starbucks or Panera Bread and do school work (online) for five hours,” said Runge in a recent interview for VISTA.Today. “Then I’d train for another three hours in the afternoon. My mom would drive me home, and we’d wake up the next morning and do it all over again.”

She used the time to share her gold-medal experience with friends and enthusiastic supporters before she heads back to school at the University of Wisconsin for the fall semester.

Runge, who is an NCAA record holder, is the first Olympian to emerge from the YMCA of Greater Brandywine which includes Jennersville and seven other branches in Chester County.

However, with her professional swimming career just starting, Runge’s sights are already set on Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.

“Qualifying, then winning gold was such a great feeling,” she said. “I’m chasing that emotion. I want that again.”

Check out previous VISTA Today coverage of YMCA of Greater Brandywine here.