Meet Ema Rajić: American-Croatian who swam for Croatia at the Olympics
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Ema Rajić (Photo: Private album)
Last year, at just 21 years of age, American-born Croatian Ema Rajić realised her dream when she competed for Croatia at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Ema was born in Illinois after her parents moved from Croatia to the US in the 1990s. She started swimming in Illinois when she was young and by the time she was in middle and high school, she was beginning to get noticed.
She was offered a scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkley, where she is now a senior.
Ema grew up surrounded by the Croatian culture and when the opportunity came up a few years ago to swim for Croatia, she did not hesitate. At the Tokyo Olympics last year she swam in the women’s 50 metre freestyle and 100 metre breaststroke.
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Ema was the latest guest on the All Things Croatia podcast where she talked with Stanko Zovak about her strong connection to her Croatian heritage, the decision to compete internationally for Croatia instead of the US, her experience at the Olympics, love for travel and cooking and more.
You can listen to Ema’s story by clicking the play button below.
