Famous Olympians and professional athletes are glad to call Seacoast their home

From Olympians to stars of the NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball, the Seacoast has been home to many famous athletes over the years. Here are some of the elite athletes you might run into in Seacoast communities in New Hampshire and southern York County, Maine.

Duncan Robinson

Born in York, Maine and growing up in New Castle, Duncan Robinson is in the middle of a five-year $90 million contract with the Miami Heat. Robinson, in 2021, signed the largest contract ever by an undrafted free agent in NBA history.

Robinson attended and played at Rye Junior High, The Governor’s Academy and then did a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy. In college, he was a walk-on at Division III Williams College before transferring to play at Division I University of Michigan, where the Wolverines lost to Villanova in the 2018 NCAA championship game.

Robinson was not selected in the 2018 NBA draft, but went on to play in the NBA’s developmental G-League. He stood out in his performance there and agreed to a deal with the Miami Heat in 2019. He helped Miami reach the NBA Finals in 2020.

One of the NBA’s best three-point shooters, Robinson also became the fastest player to record 500 3-pointers in just 152 games.

The Maude H. Trefethen School in New Castle, where Robinson attended elementary school, dedicated its kid-size basketball court to him in 2021. It now bears his name written in cursive 80 inches long at half-court. The length of his signature matches his 6-foot, 8-inch height. His handprints and footprints are set in concrete near the court.

Carlton Fisk

Baseball Hall of Fame member and Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, who was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, originally went to the University of New Hampshire to play basketball, but he was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the draft in 1967.

He grew up in Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he played soccer, basketball and baseball at Charlestown High School. He was a sophomore when the Forts went 25-0 to win the 1963 Class M state basketball championship. He earned a basketball scholarship to UNH, where he also played baseball before being drafted.

After the 1980 Red Sox season, he became a free agent and signed with the Chicago White Sox, where he would play until his retirement in 1993. The 11-time all-star was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Jenny Thompson

Swimmer Jenny Thompson of Dover competed in the Olympics four times - 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 - and won 12 Olympic medals, eight of them gold. A Massachusetts native, Thompson and her family moved to Dover so she could train with the Seacoast Swimming Association under coach Mike Parratto. She attended Dover High School and Stanford University.

Dover’s outdoor pool is named in Thompson’s honor. She is a Stanford University graduate and received her medical degree from Columbia in 2006. She is currently an anesthesiologist at the VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jessica Parratto

Dover native and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist diver Jessica Parratto and diving partner Delaney Schnell rallied to finish second, taking the silver, Team USA’s first-ever medal in 10-meter platform synchronized diving in the 2021 Olympics, which were delayed one year due to the pandemic. Parratto made her Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she finished seventh in synchronized diving and 10th in the individual competition.

Two years ago, Parratto was considering dropping down to 3-meter diving to save wear and tear on her body, but was undecided. In January of this year, she announced in social media she had decided to train again for 10-meter synchronized diving in hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Parratto graduated from Indiana University, where she majored in sports media.

Cathy Schiro O’Brien

Long distance runner and Olympian Cathy Schiro O’Brien was the first American to cross the finish line in the marathon in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Born in Janesville, Wisconsin she grew up in Dover, attended Woodman Park Elementary School and Dover Junior High School, and was a standout runner at Dover High where she won five straight class, state and New England cross country titles,

She also competed in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 and as a 16-year-old running prodigy competed in the first Olympic Trials marathon for women where she finished ninth and set a world junior record in the event.

O’Brien, who retired from competitive racing in 1996, resides in Durham and is an orchestra conductor at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. She is a violinist, plays in the group Bliss and teaches violin.

Scotty Lago

Seabrook native Scotty Lago won a bronze medal for snowboarding in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lives in South Hampton with his family. Lago won numerous awards in his career, including five X Games medals.

Lago and his wife, Bridget Brunet, the 2014 Miss New Hampshire USA pageant winner, have an 18-month-old son, Ryder. Lago is still active in the snowboard scene in New England, and across the country, competing in the Wicked Air and Apres tour shows. He started the company Lago Snowboards in 2015, selling snowboards and apparel online directly to consumers.

Lago also collaborated with Shane Pine, owner of Hampton's Community Oven, Shane's Texas Pit and Four Pines Brewing Company, and brew master Jason Bourassa to launch a new black lager beer with 10 percent of its sales going to charities.

Lago’s family owns the Lago's Ice Cream stand on Lafayette Road in Rye, where there's a "Scotty Lago's Bronzer" flavor.

Chip Kelly

Chip Kelly, the current offensive coordinator for the Ohio State University football team, was born in Dover and raised in Manchester. He played football as a defensive back at the University of New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1990. He coached in various positions at UNH during stints in 1992, 1994 to 1998. He was promoted to offensive coordinator at UNH in 1999 and oversaw UNH’s most successful offenses until being hired by the Oregon Ducks in 2007.

He was the head coach at Oregon from 2009 to 2012. He took the Ducks to four bowl games and the 2011 BCS national championship game. He moved to coaching in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers before returning to coaching in college with UCLA.

Ryan Day

Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day was born and raised in Manchester and was the quarterback at the University of New Hampshire from 1998 to 2001. Playing for UNH’s then-offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, Day set four career records at UNH, including completion percentage and touchdowns.

Kenny Linseman

National Hockey League standout Ken Linseman, who played 14 years in the NHL, six with the Bruins, spent a good number of his post-retirement years living in Hampton. He played from 1977 to 1992 for the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. He also played one season in the World Hockey Association for the Birmingham Bulls. He played in four Stanley Cup Finals, winning the 1984 Stanley Cup with the Oilers.

Rick Middleton

Former Bruins legend Rick “Nifty” Middleton has lived in Hampton for more than two decades. At the time of his retirement, he was the Bruins’ third all-time scorer with 402 goals. As of the end of the 2020-21 season, Middleton was in fifth spot, having been overtaken on the list by both Raymond Bourque and Patrice Bergeron, according to Wikipedia.

On Nov. 29, 2018, the Boston Bruins retired Middleton's #16 before a game against the New York Islanders at TD Garden. The town of Hampton honored him in July of 2019 in a ceremony where they hung a banner with his jersey number at the Seashell Stage.

Keegan Bradley

Professional golfer Keegan Bradley lived in Portsmouth in 2001 and 2002, when his father, Mark, was an assistant pro at Portsmouth Country Club. His dad is now the head pro at the Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club in Wyoming. The Portsmouth Herald caught up with his grandparents Bob and Sally Hansen at their York, Maine, home in 2011 just after they’d watched Bradley win the PGA Championship, which was his debut in the majors. He has since won five other tournaments.

Bradley is also the nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, who won the Byron Nelson Championship in May 2011. He is also the nephew of Peggy Todd of York who is a 7-time Women's Club Champion at York Golf and Tennis Club in York.

James van Riemsdyk

James van Riemsdyk who now plays in the NHL for the Boston Bruins, spent two years playing at the University of New Hampshire.

He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the second overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, but suited up for UNH that fall. As a freshman at UNH during the 2007–08 NCAA season, van Riemsdyk was third on the team with 34 points – 11 goals and 23 assists – in 31 games. He received two Hockey East Rookie of the Month selections, in January and March, and was a Hockey East All-Rookie Team selection. UNH went to the NCAA tournament  that year but was defeated in the regional semifinal round by Notre Dame. As a sophomore, van Riemsdyk led UNH in scoring, with 17 goals and 23 assists. UNH made it to the NCAA tournament again that year, but lost to Boston University in the Northeast Regional final.

At the end of the season, van Riemsdyk left UNH to turn pro. He was a semifinalist both years at UNH for the Walter Brown Award, which is presented each year to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

From UNH, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers organization, and began playing with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He made is NHL debut with the Flyers in 2009, and played in the Stanley Cup finals in 2011. The Flyers traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2012. He played for the Maple Leafs until 2018 and for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2018 to 2023 when he joined the Bruins. He has also played for the United States the junior and senior levels, including the 2014 Olympics.

Hunter Long

Long, a 2016 graduate of Exeter High School, was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Boston College.

Long didn’t have any offers to play college football out of Exeter, so he decided to do a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. From there he received a couple of “smaller offers” to play college football and Boston College was the only offer he received from a Power-5 school.

Long announced in December 2020 that he would forgo his final year of eligibility at Boston College, and enter the draft.

In March 2023, the Dolphins traded Long and a third-round pick in the 2023 draft to the Los Angeles Rams for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Ryan McKenna

McKenna, a 2015 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the fourth round shortly after his high school graduation. He is coming off this third season in the big leagues with the Orioles. McKenna, a reserve outfielder for most of his MLB career, appeared in 89 games in 2023.

The Orioles won the American League East last year with a record of 101-61, and were swept by the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series. McKenna, who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in the final week of the regular season, was not on the postseason roster.

McKenna enjoyed success last season with the resurgent Orioles, posting career highs in several categories, including batting average (.254), on-base percentage (.316), slugging (.677), RBIs (18), and stolen bases (five).

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Bob Stanley

Stanley spent his entire 13-year MLB career with the Red Sox. He has lived in Stratham, and most recently, Newmarket,

Stanley had a career record of 115-97 with 132 saves. Stanley was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. Stanley was also the team's all-time saves leader, a record he held for 20 years, until Jonathan Papelbon tied him on June 29, 2009, and then passed him three days later.

After his playing days, Stanley worked as a minor league pitching coach in the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays systems.

Last September, Stanley and former Red Sox pitcher Skip Lockwood appeared at Benchmark Senior Living in Rye as part of a ‘Major League Memories’ as part of a partnership between the Red Sox and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Luis Tiant

Tiant, who lives in Wells, Maine, compiled a 229–172 record in his 19-year career in the MLB.

He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1971 to 1978, appearing in the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Tiant also played for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels before retiring in 1982,

Tiant had 2,416 strikeouts, a 3.30 ERA, 187 complete games, and 49 shutouts in his career. He was an All-Star for three seasons and 20-game winner for four.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Olympians and pro athletes are call Seacoast NH, Maine home