Gabrielle Reece: Volleyball legend, model and wellness coach

Gabby Reece had an accomplished professional volleyball career in the 1990s and 2000s. She has remained relevant throughout the years as a media personality, and as a champion for healthy living.

According to Nole Fan’s website, run by sportswriter Kerry Dunning, Reece only started playing volleyball in her junior year of high school. Cecile Reynaud watched her play and recruited her to Florida State. “It wasn’t hard to notice Reece. I wasn’t really looking for anybody except for the next year, but I walked into this gym in Tampa and I went up to talk with her,” Reynaud said.

Reece’s profile started to grow in the state of Florida, and she became heavily recruited to play college volleyball. She ended up choosing to attend Florida State University, where her athletic career would flourish. According to Nole Fan, she’s the school record holder in solo blocks and total blocks. These marks have remained in the Seminoles record book for over 30 years.

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As Reece’s volleyball production took off, she was also in high demand for her modeling talents. “She was so heavily pursued in the modeling business that we couldn’t keep her on campus. So she would take off, go around the world and then come back to take summer classes to keep her eligibility,” Reynaud recalled.

According to Beach Volleyball Database, Gabby Reece’s face would grace the covers of popular magazines such as Shape, Self, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar.

After her college career ended, Reece had a decision to make. She could have pursued via indoor volleyball leagues in Europe. However, she decided that beach volleyball would be the way to go, even if it wasn’t as well regarded in the 1990s.

Reece was a force on the four-person professional beach volleyball tour. According to Beach Volleyball Database, she led the league in kills in four out of her five seasons. She also led the league in blocks during one campaign.

Gabby Reece’s squad won the 1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships, which was the inaugural year of the tournament.

These days, Reece hosts a weekly podcast about a variety of topics. The Gabby Reece Show podcast discusses nutrition, anxiety, athlete mindset, coaching, communication and other talking points.

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According to Gabby Reece’s website, the podcast has over three million downloads as of April 2024.

Reece married renowned surfer Laird Hamilton in 1997. They met in 1995 when Reece was hosting a TV show called 'The Extremists'.

Both Hamilton and Reece said there were no sparks when they first met. Instead, Hamilton told Yahoo Sports, “It was infatuation after first conversation. My intrigue of Gabby was brought to life after realizing how smart she was.”

However, Hamilton was married in 1995, and Reece had a boyfriend. However, Hamilton got divorced, and the two began living together shortly thereafter. The couple is still going strong today.

Given their history, both Reece and Hamilton have natural inclinations to remain physically active. Although both accomplish this, each has their own separate ways of achieving this. Reece told People Magazine, “We joke that the only time we really work out together is in the pool because you can’t talk when you’re underwater.”

Reece has spoken about the mental hurdle of getting into shape. She told AARP’s website, “Commit to something--whether it’s walking every day, doing resistance training weekly, getting to bed earlier—then just ride it out for four to six weeks, with no expectations. It will remind you just how adaptable your body is when you just stay the course.”

Gabby Reece wrote a column for XPT Life’s website, where she highlighted the importance of drinking water. “Drink water only,” she wrote. “Water is the best thing you can put in your body. The best part? No calories and great hydration make you feel amazing!”

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