University of Richmond Athletics
Swimming Alum Speaks at SP4’s Women’s Health Symposium
10/01/2025 | Spider Performance
RICHMOND, Va. – Spider Performance (SP4) hosted a Women's Health Symposium for all female student-athletes and staff members in September. The event spotlighted not only reproductive health but also served as an informative session focusing on how to train and compete at the highest levels as female athletes.
Dr. Anna Baur, MD, FACOG Commonwealth OBGYN with Henrico Doctor's Hospital, opened the event discussing reproductive health.
"I am so thankful to be a part of Richmond Athletics women's health symposium for their female student-athletes," Baur said. "These young women are our future. Helping them to understand their own health, their own bodies, is so vitally important. As women, we should be educated and informed on what is normal or abnormal so that we can be empowered to make healthcare decisions that are safe and right for us."
Former Richmond swimming student-athlete and coach Nicole Drucker Piercy, MS, PA-C Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant with Bon Secours, spoke to student athletes about the importance of STI testing.
The event was concluded with an open panel discussion with Carleen DiMeglio APRN, MSN, PMHNP-BC, PMH-C- Adult Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, River Road Psychiatry, LLC, as well as Richmond Athletics staff members Karen Hensley, Senior Registered Dietitian, Beacher Porter, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports, and Sara Spencer, MS, LAT, ATC Associate Athletic Trainer answering questions from the student-athletes.
"I think it is important for us to educate our female student athletes in areas where they haven't received much," Spencer said. "We are asking a lot of them from an academic and athletic standpoint so it is vital for them to know how their bodies function during different times of their cycles and how that can impact performance."
"The SP4 staff are constantly trying to figure out how we can best train our women's teams in a safe and efficient manner so they can excel in competition," Spencer said.
Dr. Anna Baur, MD, FACOG Commonwealth OBGYN with Henrico Doctor's Hospital, opened the event discussing reproductive health.
"I am so thankful to be a part of Richmond Athletics women's health symposium for their female student-athletes," Baur said. "These young women are our future. Helping them to understand their own health, their own bodies, is so vitally important. As women, we should be educated and informed on what is normal or abnormal so that we can be empowered to make healthcare decisions that are safe and right for us."
Former Richmond swimming student-athlete and coach Nicole Drucker Piercy, MS, PA-C Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant with Bon Secours, spoke to student athletes about the importance of STI testing.
The event was concluded with an open panel discussion with Carleen DiMeglio APRN, MSN, PMHNP-BC, PMH-C- Adult Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, River Road Psychiatry, LLC, as well as Richmond Athletics staff members Karen Hensley, Senior Registered Dietitian, Beacher Porter, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports, and Sara Spencer, MS, LAT, ATC Associate Athletic Trainer answering questions from the student-athletes.
"I think it is important for us to educate our female student athletes in areas where they haven't received much," Spencer said. "We are asking a lot of them from an academic and athletic standpoint so it is vital for them to know how their bodies function during different times of their cycles and how that can impact performance."
"The SP4 staff are constantly trying to figure out how we can best train our women's teams in a safe and efficient manner so they can excel in competition," Spencer said.
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