Hailing from “the middle of nowhere,” Massachusetts, an American University swimmer is now on a national platform for her leadership and Jewish pride.
Rebecca Siegel is among the 17 Jewish collegiate athletes recently selected as ambassadors by the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. She signed a Name, Image and Likeness deal in December, part of the alliance’s second cohort.
The athlete ambassador program seeks to highlight Jewish athletes at the collegiate level to promote their multifaceted identities and bolster Jewish pride through social media, according to a press release.
“I’ve always been very proud to be a Jew, and I’ve also been very proud of who I am as a swimmer,” Siegel said. “I’ve worked really hard for it, so I’m excited that I’m able to use my platform as an athlete to expand on how proud I am as a Jew.”
A varsity swimmer at American University in Washington, D.C., since 2023, Siegel was selected to represent Team USA at the 2025 Maccabiah Games in Israel, one of the largest global sports events. The Games were postponed to 2026 due to the ongoing war against Iran.
Siegel began swimming when she was 7 years old. “Growing up, it was very much a balance between going to synagogue and then also practicing,” she said.
The college senior took that same energy with her to D.C., where she is involved in American University Hillel and Chabad AU, including a stint on the executive board of the latter.
She helps build community between fellow Jewish athletes through Hillel. “It’s been very welcoming,” Siegel said. “Also, my teammates [on the swim team] always come celebrate holidays with me, so it’s not two separate communities for me, which is amazing.”
Leadership is nothing new to this D.C. resident.
“My whole life, I’ve been very involved in helping the next generation, teaching the little kids on my swim team, volunteer[ing] at my synagogue for the grades below me,” Siegel said.
Although health concerns and injuries forced Siegel to medically retire from competitive swimming in November 2025, “that’s not an end of her story as a leader in sport and a leader to other young people,” Katz said.
He added that Siegel now mentors younger athletes in addition to her college course load.
“She’s … a great role model for young athletes in the broader D.C. metro area,” Katz said. “What I love about Rebecca’s story is how she has overcome adversity, how she has demonstrated resilience and pride in herself and who she is, and then channeled that into coaching and mentorship so that the next generation can benefit from those values.”
Siegel said she resonates with the Blue Square Alliance’s core values: unity, solidarity, standing against hate and embracing one’s identity as a Jewish student athlete and leader.
Combating hate is something Siegel has had a hand in both personally and professionally.
Siegel was one of the few Jewish students at her “very small” high school in Hubbardston, a rural community in Massachusetts. If she heard another student make an antisemitic comment, Siegel would tell a school authority and also talk to the peer, inquiring, “Do you know what you said?”
“I would make sure that [antisemitism] wasn’t taken lightly,” Siegel said.
Especially with a high school class of less than 100 students, speaking up can easily set a student apart. But that didn’t faze Siegel.
“I’m proud of who I am, and that doesn’t change just because I’m one of the few Jewish kids around,” she said, adding that her friends consistently supported her. “If something happened, I wasn’t afraid of speaking out.”
This pride and comfort in sharing her identity factored into the Blue Square Alliance’s decision to select Siegel as an athlete ambassador, according to Adam Katz, the president of the BSA.
“It’s [her] resilience and authenticity,” Katz said. “She’s confident in who she is, and she’s happy and proud to speak about [who she is].”
Siegel also completed an internship at the American Jewish Committee’s Center for Education Advocacy, where she worked with the Leaders for Tomorrow program to build community and leadership skills among Jewish teens. She accompanied the students as they lobbied on Capitol Hill and spoke with local representatives about antisemitism.
“I’ve definitely taken advantage of the D.C. experience and used it in various capacities,” Siegel said.
This experience ties into her new role with the Blue Square Alliance.
“I’m a very big believer that, in order to combat hate, you have to use not only education, but also exposure,” she said. “To be able to share my story and be an advocate by speaking out, … I’m just so thankful. I’m excited to share all of it.”
Also sharing their stories are two upperclassmen with D.C.-area roots: Nina Pollak, a soccer player at Trinity University, is originally from Bethesda, and Sarah Hoffman, a field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse player at Albertus Magnus College, hails from Springfield, Virginia.
