Warren County resident Paige Zemina Northcutt dove into the race of her life at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea winning an Olympic medal for team USA.
Northcutt and her teammates Mary Wayte, Laura Walker, and Dara Torres swam their way up the podium to win bronze in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. Northcutt swam the second leg of the relay.
She says the highlight of her Olympic experience was walking into the stadium during opening ceremonies.
Northcutt began her swimming career on a summer swim team at age 9.
“I was bored one summer with nothing to do,” said Northcutt.
Her mother suggested she take up swimming, and that same year she was swimming year around.
By the time she was a freshman in high school, she was getting up at 4:15 a.m. and diving into the water by 5 a.m. After practicing two hours, she would head to school.
Northcutt would be back training by 3:30 p.m. to run or lift weights before another two-hour swim practice. She estimates she swam four miles in the morning, and four miles in the afternoon, five days a week, all the way through college.
“I would do it all again in a heartbeat,” said Northcutt of the hard work that was spent in the water.
At age 14, she made American swimming history by winning the 100-meter freestyle at the 1982 U.S. Swimming National Championship.
“I was the youngest to ever win U.S. nationals at that point,” said Northcutt.
That same year she represented the United States for the first time in an international competition. Ironically, it was in Knoxville at the World’s Fair.
Northcutt also set a national high school record in freestyle along with several state records in her home state of Florida. She still holds one of those state records.
In college, she swam at the University of Florida in Gainesville under Randy Reese where she was a NCCA champion five times.
Northcutt qualified for the relay team in 100-meter freestyle in Austin, Texas at the Olympic Trials with a time of 56.55 seconds on Aug. 8, 1988.
“I remember thinking please let me touch the wall so I can be on the team,” said Northcutt.
The U.S. swim team had an intense training camp in Hawaii before the Olympics began in Seoul on Sept. 17, 1988. In Seoul, swim team members were allowed to take it fairly easy before their events.
Northcutt attended other sporting events at the games including gymnastics and watched the victory of Anthony Nesty of Suriname over American Matt Biondi by a hundredth of a second in the 100-meter butterfly.
“Dream big, never give up, and always make sure you are having fun,” says Northcutt of the lessons her Olympic experience taught her.
Medal memories
