Allison Schmitt feels honored to be on the U.S. Olympic swim team and to be returning home with silver and gold medals.
"These are moments, feelings, friendships that I will cherish forever," Schmitt said.
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She won gold in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay and silver in the women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
The three-time Olympian and Canton native said that her swims in Rio are in honor of those who helped her overcome her battle with depression, beginning with her cousin, April Bocian.
"It's in honor of everyone who helped get me to this point where I am today, and that can start with April because she is the reason that I spoke out to my family and spoke out to spread awareness," Schmitt said. "There are a lot of people out there, including my parents right here, that have helped get me where I am today."
Bocian was 17 years old when she committed suicide. She had been a star basketball player and also suffered with depression. Her death was a wake-up call to Schmitt. Following Bocian's death, Schmitt confided in her parents and family that she too was suffering from depression.
Schmitt saw a psychologist regularly and fought back both physically and mentally to make this U.S. Olympic team.
"I'm forever grateful for my parents, for my family, my siblings, my friends, my teammates, my coaches and the community that has been supporting me through it all," Schmitt said.
Ralph and Gail Schmitt are very proud of their daughter's accomplishments.
"I think it's just phenomenal to watch your child before they get to this stage and how much dedication and passion they have for the sport. Not only Allison, but her friends and teammates all along the way. Some of them are here and some of them aren't, but each and every one of them put so much work and so much dedication into their sport and as a parent there is nothing better than to see that because we know that when the sport is done that will transfer over to what they want to do for the rest of their lives," Ralph Schmitt said.
Gail Schmitt admits this Olympics gives her an even greater sense of pride than she felt in the previous ones in which Allison competed.
"For sure, yes, definitely for sure," Gail said. "Just knowing everything she went through and where she came from and where she ended up, it just makes my heart so happy."
Schmitt plans to pursue a career in psychology, helping others who have struggled with mental illness, especially athletes.
"I think that for me that hardest thing was to ask for help because why should I be asking for help when I know that there are people struggling way more than I am out there. There are people who have not had the successes I've had, that do not have the opportunities that I've had, and at the end of the day we're all the exact same person. Me as a medalist is the same as someone who's in first grade," Schmitt said.
"It's OK to not be OK. It's OK to be vulnerable. It's OK to show emotion and it's OK to ask for help," Schmitt said. "At the end of the day, we're all humans. We're all the exact same and it's OK to show that you're vulnerable," she said.
Schmitt ends her Olympic career with four gold, two silver and two bronze medals, which she won over three Summer Games -- 2008, 2012 and 2016.
Schmitt won five Olympic medals during the 2012 Summer Games in London. Three were gold medals, in the 200-meter freestyle race, the 4x200-meter medley relay and the 4x100-medley relay. She won a silver in the 400-meter freestyle and a bronze in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she won bronze in the 4x200 freestyle relay.