Florida Women's Swimmer, Jamie Reid
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
When Jamie Reid started swimming it was just one of those things. Her parents, James and Pam, owned a boat and wanted to be at ease on the water when their daughter rode along. Little did they know enrolling her in swimming lessons would spark a passion in Jamie that remains intact today and has allowed her opportunities others only dream of.
As a youngster born and raised in the country of Panama, Reid's first encounter with the water was at the age of six months. She says swimming came naturally to her as she grew and worked her way up the levels in her swim lessons.
“My sister (Lindsey) and I took lessons together,” said Reid. “Starting out so early, I think it just became second-nature to me to be in the water and my sister and I just kept moving up the different levels in our lessons. We would swim at the local competitions in Panama and in holiday meets, like the fourth of July. She was always better at swimming than I was, but she never fell in love with like I did and quit a few years after we moved to Seattle (Wash.).”
The Reid family made its move to Seattle, Wash., when Jamie was seven years old because of growing political unrest in the country of Panama. The move to the States opened new doors for Reid in the swimming arena, and brought her together with her Puyallup Aquatic Club coach and mentor Rick Benner.
“I was born and raised in Panama and so was my mom and so were her parents,” Reid explained. “We had a communist president there and I remember the United States came in one December and went to war to oust the president. After that happened my parents decided it wasn't the ideal place to raise two girls so as soon as we could we got out of there.”
“Swimming took on a whole different complexion when we moved to the States,” Reid continued. “In Panama it had started as a skill my parents thought it was necessary for us to have, and than moved to more of a social thing for them. When we moved to Seattle it was something my sister and I wanted to continue doing for us. So the tables turned a little bit and it became my sister and I convincing our parents to let us keep going.”
After years of success under coach Benner with the Puyallup Aquatic Club, Reid started to look forward to college. She knew early that athletics at the University of Florida was something she wanted to be a part of, but not just because of its successful swim team.
“When I was getting recruited to go to college I was really interested in athletic training,” said Reid. “Chris Patrick (Assistant Athletics Director – Sports Health at UF) is one of the top and most well-known athletic trainers in the nation. When I was looking at colleges I really wanted to study at a place with the top athletics and top athletic training program in the country. Florida is where I wanted to be for its status in the athletic training profession and the care they give to athletes here. Of course having one of the top swimming programs in the nation was a factor as well.”
When Reid, now a building construction major, enrolled at UF and made the move to Gainesville, her parents decided a move to Florida was right for them as well and uprooted to Orlando. According to Reid having her family close by allows them to continue to show their support of her swimming career, just as they did while she was growing up.
“Growing up, my parents would come to support me when I swam as much as they could because I traveled a lot,” said Reid. “They've always been supportive of my swimming, though and have gone to as many meets as possible. There is a meet I remember in particular – the Goodwill Games one year, and all the parents cheering for our team sat in the bleachers together. At one point they got in trouble for cheering too loud. They were just kind of like, well what are we supposed to do? But that's just how they were, they traveled as far as Wyoming and New York to watch me swim.”
Now a leader in the water for the Florida Gator swim team, Reid has continued her swimming success at the collegiate level, as an All-American and four-time All-SEC swimmer. Although she sees a few improvements that can be made both personally and as a team, Reid is convinced this could be the year for the team to win at 'the big meet.'
“I think we definitely have the talent to be the top team in the nation this year,” said Reid. “But for that to happen our confidence needs to improve, collectively as a team. We have everything we need to win, we just need to believe in ourselves and believe in each other, that we can be the best.”
“As an individual, I always want to improve on my racing skills,” Reid continued. “I still get nervous before every race and I think can affect my performance sometimes. I've been doing this for 15 years now, there's no reason I should get as nervous as I do.”
With the conference and NCAA meets just around the corner, Reid has a main goal in mind for her post-season performances. And, she noted, the team has a couple goals of its own.
“I want to be top three at NCAA's in the 200 backstroke,” Reid asserted. “Only two or three of the girls that swam in the finals last year will be back – the rest graduated. So I think if I can keep it together the rest of the year training-wise – than I should be pretty good. I think the team will do better at NCAA's than at SEC's because we're putting more of a focus on the national meet. Coach Troy tells us everyday it's going to take special performances from everybody to win 'the big meet.' I think we can be top three even just with our normal swims, but we don't practice for normal swims, we practice for the special swims.”
With the No. 2 Auburn Tigers visiting the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Saturday, the Gators will face their first opponent of the spring season who bested them at last year's NCAA meet. According to Reid, the team won't be focusing on anything except enjoying the meet and having fun during the rivalry.
“Coach Troy said it yesterday and it just explains our whole mentality for this meet,” said Reid. “He said, three months from now nobody is going to remember who won the Auburn-Florida dual meet, they only remember what happens at NCAA's. He wants us to go out there and have fun at this meet, and if we have fun than we'll swim well and be more relaxed. So if we can swim relaxed and to our potential than I think we can pull out a win. There's no reason why we shouldn't win the meet.”
It's with high expectations and clear-cut goals that Reid takes to the water everyday for the 'hardest training team in America.' Her start in the sport may have been because of a safety precaution, but her devotion to, and confidence in her team's abilities are infectious.
