Eph great Lindsay Payne '06 still competing -- see TimedFinals.com profile

This article originally appeared on TimedFinals.com and was written by David Cromwell

Top 5 Tuesday: Profile 4/5 With DIII Star Lindsay Payne

Posted by David

She is amazing. Those are the only thoughts that can enter anyone’s mind after hearing the story of one of the greatest swimmers in Division III history, Lindsay Payne. Lindsay’s time from her senior year in the 100 breast (1:00.54) not only gave her a three second victory over the field, but would have placed her fourth at the Division I Championships, just .5 out of first. Not bad for a girl that entered college as a 1:07 100 breastroker. Of course that 1:07 is misleading as she had other things on her plate in high school: academics, soccer, crew and regaining her strength from a recent battle with Leukemia.

“Looks Good On Paper”

Education: Graduated from Williams College in 2006 with a degree in Psychology.

“Bragging Rights”: 2006 Honda Inspiration Award Winner, 7 Individual NCAA Titles, First Woman to Win 100 Breastroke 4 Times, Div. III NCAA Record Holder in 100 and 200 breast, 2007 Japan International Grand Prix Qualifier, Currently Ranked Top 50 in World: 100 Breast.

“A Day in the Life”: 7-9am Swimming, 9-10 Dryland, 11-5pm Work, 5:30-6:30 Yoga.
Time Training vs. Working: 20 Hours Training vs. 35 Hours Working.

“I Didn’t Want to Be Defined by It…”

Some people in the swimming community have come across the Finnish word “Sisu” before, which is roughly translated as an inner strength of will and determination in the face of overwhelming adversity. Not just momentary courage, but a sustained stubborn desire to overcome. I use this term with Lindsay because, frankly, I’m having a hard time describing such a phenomenal person by conventional means.

“What angle are you going for on this piece,” Lindsay asks me over the phone. As a mediocre writer it’s a little intimidating to hear, but I begin to understand why she does so as we keep talking. The thing is, Lindsay’s accomplishments in collegiate swimming are almost overwhelmingly inspiring standing alone. A girl that worked hard, but had never focused on swimming found herself shattering national records at a Division III School world renowned for its academics, not its swimming. But in her four years at Williams she dominated the sport like few have, eventually cutting 7 seconds off her 100 breast time when all was said and done. The accolades came pouring in: Division III Swimmer of the Year, NCAA Record Holder, etc. So why did people feel like they had to ask Lindsay about her childhood battle with leukemia instead of her current athletic feats?

Lindsay was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at 12, after being taken to the hospital for feeling overwhelmingly tired at a swim meet. She would go through two years of chemotherapy and radiation treatments as well as other procedures like spinal taps. She notes, “It wasn’t until my junior year in college that I started to understand what I went through and started thinking about what role I wanted it to play in my life. Before that point I just wanted to be a normal kid and forget that cancer had ever happened…Entering my freshman year at Williams I knew it would gain a lot of attention on top of my swimming accomplishments and I didn’t want to use cancer simply to receive more praise. Now, I have realized I can be a tool to help raise awareness about this awful disease that is incredibly under-funded and negatively impacts thousands of kids’ lives.” In short: “I didn’t want to be defined by it.”

I would say that Lindsay has done a pretty good job not letting any one thing “define” her life: she’s as multi-faceted as they come. A three sport athlete in high school, incredibly intelligent, and currently dedicating her time to a non-profit organization called Sound Body Sound Mind, helping under-funded schools in L.A. in addition to her Olympic training regiment.

This brings us to Lindsay’s current situation. Foregoing the typical path of a Williams graduate (taking a job in NY or Boston) Lindsay switched coasts, switched coaches (though Williams coach Steve Kuster led her to incredible feats, as a Division III school, athletes are not even allowed to start practicing until November 1, so staying was not an option), and headed for Dave Salo’s Trojan Swim Club. She is now training with perhaps the greatest breastroke group ever assembled, one that includes: 3-Time Olympian Amanda Beard, American Record Holder Jessica Hardy, National Champion Rebecca Soni and National Champion (and our first profile) Keri Hehn. That would be intimidating for anyone, let alone someone that was used to winning races by half-a-dozen seconds. “I definintely struggled mentally last year,” Lindsay says, commenting on the wide degree of change in her life.

As for swimming, Lindsay is “trying to keep things in perspective. Three years ago there is no way I could have ever imagined I would be training with all these world class athletes, be able to compete in Japan or even have a world ranking. I am not going to settle for what’s happened, but I think it is important to keep things in perspective…On a daily basis I’m trying to stay up with some of the best breastrokers in the world and continue to improve.”

In fact, maybe Lindsay can best be summed up by the fact that the hardest thing for her post-collegiate swimming career hasn’t been the new physical rigors of training, but what she sees as a new, “selfish” aspect of swimming. “90% of what I loved at Williams was the team atmosphere, the rivarlies, the relays, all of that,” Lindsay says, “I swam for a club team for a year before I was diagnosed, but that, with some summer training, was my only non-collegiate experience. A big challenge has been figuring out how to race with a different purpose, a more individually driven purpose rather than focusing on the team as a whole.” Just as I said with Dana last week, I am sure there are a lot of college coaches out there that would do anything to instill Lindsay’s attitude into their swimmers.

To anyone other than Lindsay though, her current situation is anything but selfish. Working almost full-time as Executive Director Sound Body Sound Mind, as well as raising cancer awareness through organizations such as Cure Search and Swim Across America, she has no trouble filling her schedule to the breaking point. She also wouldn’t have it any other way, “I like working, I like having a balance. I am certainly making some sacrifices personally, financially, and physically but I love the fact that I am still swimming and challenging myself physically. I know how lucky I am to simply have the health and means to pursue goals such as mine.” How can you not cheer her on?