Alexander “Alex” Gadegaard Shah, a rising senior on Fordham’s swim team, is back at the Olympics. 

Shah, a psychology major at Fordham College at Rose Hill, will compete in the 100-meter freestyle in Paris on July 30. It will be the second time that he has represented his home country of Nepal in the Olympics. 

In 2021, he competed in the pandemic-delayed 2020 games in Tokyo, finishing with a time of 53.41 in the same race. Since then, Shah has competed both with the Fordham swim team and on his own. In February, his 52:17 finish at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha, Qatar, earned him his spot on Nepal’s team again this year.

Shah talked with Fordham Now just before his departure.

What are your hopes for Paris? 

I want to break that 52-second barrier. That was something that I wanted to do in February. I also want to lower that record for Nepal, where I currently hold that 100 freestyle record as a national record. So from a broader standpoint, it’s also about representing my country to the best of my ability.

How has your time at Fordham prepared you for the Olympics? 

College swimming is very demanding. We race a lot, and training is a bit more intense because I’m also trying to balance student life, like studying for exams. But it’s also a huge advantage to be a Division 1 college athlete because of the competition around us. It’s helped me practice and compete at a high level. 

What about 100-meter freestyle is so appealing to you?

Growing up, I just enjoyed sprinting more than distance training. I wasn’t really about going long distances. I found that pretty boring. Also, the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympics is one of the most watched final events in the whole competition. It really comes down to pure athleticism, and it’s just really a fun race.

Are you going to approach this competition any differently than the last one?

I’m definitely fitter and stronger than I was then, and that’s through training at Fordham. I’ve been able to include lifting into my swimming routine, and as a sprinter, that’s very valuable. Working with Coach Tom Wilkins, my aerobic capacity has really increased as well. I have to just trust the process and look back at some of the other races that I’ve had this last year. Those races have helped me understand exactly what I need to do. 

Have there been any setbacks along the way that you’ve overcome?

This last year has been super important because it’s been that Olympic year for qualifying, and I didn’t know how well I’d do in February. But it all worked out in the end when Tom Wilkins came in. I felt really supported and prepared in terms of racing training. I haven’t swum this fast in my life before, and I haven’t felt this good before. 

Shah is now a member of the men’s swimming and diving team at Fordham. On Oct. 22, he competed in his first Fordham swimming competition, where he placed first in the 50-yard freestyle race and third in the 100-yard freestyle race against Monmouth University. In this video, Shah talks about what it was like to participate in the Olympics and how he’s found a family at Fordham.

Fiona Murtagh, FCRH ’16; incoming student Alexander Gadegaard Shah; and alumnus Nick Martinez are competing in rowing, swimming, and baseball, respectively.

Murtagh, a native of Galway, is rowing for Ireland. She arrived at Fordham in 2013 and made her mark on the rowing program immediately, with the Fordham club winning the Head of Charles regatta in Boston two years in a row.

The first win, in 2013, was the first time a Fordham women’s crew had won at the prestigious regatta. Murtagh also earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors in 2016 when she helped the Rams to a third-place team finish.

In Tokyo, Murtagh and her Irish teammates placed second in the women’s coxless four on July 23 and qualified for the final, which will take place on July 26.

UPDATE: Murtagh and the Women’s Four won the Bronze–Ireland’s first medal in the Tokyo games.

Shah, who will start at Fordham College at Rose Hill this fall, is one of five athletes representing Nepal at the Olympics this year.

A member of this year’s recruiting class for men’s swimming, he was the team MVP and team captain at the Lincoln School in Kathmandu, Nepal, finishing with multiple school and national records. He then swam for Nepal Swimming, earning their team MVP award in 2019, and earned a wild card qualifier spot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He will swim the 100-meter freestyle, which is set to begin on July 27 and finish on July 29.

Martinez, a native of Miami, is on the baseball roster for Team USA. He attended Fordham for three years, where he was a starting second baseman and a relief pitcher. He is Fordham’s first baseball Olympian since Bobby Kingsbury, who played for Team Greece in 2004.

Martinez was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2011 and played for the team’s farm system and the major league team until 2018 when he signed a contract to pitch for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. He currently pitches for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Japanese League. Team USA will open the Olympic Games baseball tournament on Friday, July 30, against Israel. They join the Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Korea, and Mexico in the six-team field.