Friday, August 10, 2012

My Friend, the Double Gold Medalist

In high school, through my friend, Anne Turbett, I was introduced to Cathy Carr.  Although Cathy was younger than Anne and I, she was friends with Anne's sister, and we frequently hung out together.  She played volleyball on the school's team, went to football games with us, and generally was a part of our group.  And she was so much fun . . . funny, low key, relaxed.

Sometimes, she couldn't go with us because she had a swim meet.  We knew she was a talented swimmer, but it didn't keep her from participating in all sorts of school activities.

Before I returned for my sophomore year at K-State, I had seen that Cathy had gone to the Olympic Trials and I had heard she made the Olympic team that went to Munich in 1972.  Communication was much different in those days, and we had to rely on newspapers for our information.  Coverage of a girl from Albuquerque was slim in Manhattan, but my mom told me she made the team.  I didn't know when she would be competing, however, so I tried to watch the coverage as often as I could.  (Back then, we only had the nightly updates . . . not round-the-clock coverage like we have now.)

One night, I had an opportunity to go on a blind date, but I turned it down, just in case Cathy was swimming.  I went to the informal at the Kappa house, and with a variety of other girls (and their dates) I was glued to the television.  As they announced the swimming in the breaststroke, up came Cathy's name.  She was in the finals!  I jumped up, screaming and yelling, "That's my friend, that's my friend."  We couldn't hear the announcer, I was yelling so loudly!  As I recall, the other people in the room were only a little annoyed with me . . . but I didn't care.  This was my friend.

The rest is history.  Cathy set a world record while winning a gold medal, and later in the games, she won a second one.  Her world record stood for two years (although during the Beijing Olympics one of the announcers sent me to Google because he said that Cathy's record was bested just that year.  I thought he was wrong, and indeed he was . . . but it was fun hearing her name again!)

What is amazing about Cathy's victory is how unassuming she was.  We knew she was a good swimmer.  But none of us had any idea of how good she was.  Apparently others didn't expect it either, because in the Wikipedia article about her, it appears as if she was the pleasant surprise of that Olympic games!  I am not sure anyone expected it, except perhaps Cathy, and she kept it to herself.

Sports have become so all-consuming for current athletes.  They train year-round, they lift weights, they eat special diets.  I know Cathy trained and worked hard, but she always had time for other things.  She always took time for her friends.  In a games fraught with horror and doping scandals, she was a very bright spot in an otherwise very sad era.

I lost track of her, though I did find some information about her.  I am trying to contact her, but so far have had no luck.   When I drive by her family's home (the soft green now repainted) in Albuquerque,  I think of her fondly.  And every time we have a summer Olympics, I remember how fun it was watching my friend win a gold medal.

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