Former Gators All-American gymnast Pam Titus was at the O'Dome for Florida's win over Auburn on Friday night. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Trailblazer Titus Reconnects With Gators In Memorable Fashion
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Once in a while it's as if the stars align and the only option is to buckle up and go along for the ride.✨The 🐊 with first collegiate floor 🔟 got to cheer the latest 🐊 floor 🔟 last Friday!✨
— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) March 3, 2021
More on Pam "Air" Titus @OConnellCTR visit from @GatorsScott
➡️ https://t.co/w3eJRrEK2l#GoGators #4CTION#WomensHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/Ka3TUYhNwn
That is sort of what former Gators three-time All-American gymnast Pam Titus experienced during a rare return to campus on Friday. Titus, who finished her career 30 years ago, was in town for the No. 1-ranked Gators' home meet against Auburn.
"It felt like I was in a different world all over again,'' Titus said this week.
The SEC Network, in highlighting Black History Month, showed Titus in the stands as she cheered on the Gators. She spoke to the team prior to the meet in what turned into a more emotional moment than she expected.
The Gators have used their visible platform all season to bring awareness to social justice issues. In honor of Black History Month, Florida's gymnasts got stamped with BHM tattoos. Meanwhile, as the first Black gymnast in school history, Titus received a surprise when Trinity Thomas thanked Titus for paving the way for young gymnasts like herself.
"She said, 'you know, we're here because of you. You opened this door and walked through it and made it possible for us.' It just didn't register right away what she was saying,'' Titus said. "It was so humbling. I did this so many years ago, and to think it could still be real and people are still able to do what they're doing because of something I did, because it was my dream to get a scholarship and go to college and do college gymnastics, it's just wild.
"I was so glad to be there and be with those folks and that team."
The opportunity to speak to the team and the exchange with Thomas would have made for a memorable night, but the evening only got better.
On Jan. 25, 1991, at the O'Connell Center against Auburn, Titus did something no UF gymnast had done and only two NCAA gymnasts at the time had accomplished: she earned a perfect 10. Titus performed a flawless floor routine to earn the first 10 in NCAA history in the event, joining Georgia's Lucy Wener (1988) and Oklahoma's Kelly Garrison (1988-89) as the only gymnasts to score 10s in NCAA competition.
Thirty years later against Auburn, Thomas starred by posting not one, but two 10s. She earned a perfect score on the uneven bars and like Titus three decades ago, on her floor routine.
"At the end of the night, I said to Trinity, us Auburn-10 girls need to have a picture together,'' Titus said. "She was just amazing. I was proud of the entire team. I think the thing that resonated with me is that when I saw that team together, it brought back so many memories of my time with my team. The discipline and the drive and the strength that these young women have. I reminded them that that strength that you have, that drive that you have, hold onto it, because that is what is going to take you to the next chapter in your life."
A native of Holbrook, N.Y., once Titus graduated from UF, she moved to South Florida and began a career in human resources. She moved to Huntsville, Ala., for a few years but several years ago moved back to South Florida, where she continues to call home.
Times have changed since Titus arrived at UF. College gymnastics has grown in popularity and visibility. The world has changed, too, including in significant ways in just the last year as more and more student-athletes have started to use their voices in ways she never imagined.
"When I came to Florida as a teenager, as a young adult, I never really had to think about all the social injustices and things that were going on,'' Titus said. "All these things we're hearing about today, like Black Lives Matter, there was no Black Lives Matter in my mind. And maybe I was naive, I don't know, but I never felt like I was singled out or things were less for me because I was an African-American. I felt like I walked onto the University of Florida campus and I was like everybody else.
"To see how this team has embraced one another regardless of their race was just so amazing to me, and how they came together and done such wonderful things. It blew me away. It really did."
Titus was so impressed that she told her boss she might need a few days off later this month to visit Huntsville. Yeah, she used to live there, but that's not the reason.
It's where the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships are later this month.
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