Hall, who had lived in the 1958-built Pacific Palisades home since 2020, ran his successful water safety school, Sea Monkeys Swimming, while renting the property
Olympic swimming legend Gary Hall Jr. is starting anew in Florida after the devastating January fire in Palisades destroyed his home, business, and 10 Olympic medals, according to Realtor.com.
Hall, a three-time Olympian who won five gold, three silver, and two bronze medals in sprint freestyle swimming at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Games, lost nearly everything in the blaze. The fire, one of the worst in California history, reduced his three-bedroom, two-bath home to rubble. Among the losses were his Olympic medals, stored in a “fireproof” safety box that failed to withstand the inferno.
“They’ve got a lot of character now,” Hall told Realtor.com, describing the melted medals. “If you live long enough, you get some scars. And they have scars. It makes it more interesting to look at them.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stepped in, presenting Hall with replica medals during an emotional ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne, where he also signed the Olympians Wall.
Reflecting on the tragedy, Hall told the IOC, “My neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades was annihilated by the fire. It burned my home, my business, and all my worldly possessions. I had just enough time to get out with my dog, and it was a close call.”
Hall, who had lived in the 1958-built Pacific Palisades home since 2020, ran his successful water safety school, Sea Monkeys Swimming, while renting the property for $5,500 a month—a bargain for the area. He had an agreement with the owners to have first dibs if they sold. “I loved that house,” he said, noting he lived there with his rescue pug-Chihuahua mix, Puddles, and was close to his girlfriend and two teenage children in California.
The fire’s devastation extended beyond Hall’s personal losses, impacting the entire community. “After about two days, the adrenaline wore off, and the devastation began to sink in, not just for myself, but for the community—knowing the families, the children who lost their homes, who lost their schools, who lost their community, everything that they knew,” Hall told the IOC. He added, “Wealth is determined by the friends that we have, the love that we have.”
Now in Florida, Hall is rebuilding his life.
After renting an Airbnb in the sunshine state for two months, Hall chose Delray Beach as a place to open a new swimming school and, eventually, buy his own house, according to Realtor.
