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First-year swimmer Erika Stewart competes in Beijing
by Katharine Palmer, Athletics Media Relations
Imagine competing on the world’s biggest stage, doing what you love, meeting people from around the globe all before your first college class.
That is what Virginia swimmer Erika Stewart experienced last summer as a member of Colombia’s Olympic swimming team.
Stewart, born and raised in North Carolina, punched her ticket for Beijing in July after qualifying, ironically, during a time trial while competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She had previously swam for her father’s home nation of Colombia, to which she also has citizenship, for the past two years.
“I really feel like I belong,” Stewart said of representing Colombia. “I have family there and I connect with the people there. They are so nice and accepting. When I go there I have a place to stay. I don’t feel like a foreigner. I feel like I am at home with my family.”
Stewart’s father, Oscar, was born in Colombia and, with the exception of a few siblings who have also relocated to North Carolina, the rest of his family remain in his home country. The younger Stewart was happy to make her family proud.
“I knew it would really mean a lot to me and my family if I could have that experience,” she said.
Stewart first got her start competing for Colombia when she participated in the 2006 Central American Games, a smaller international event, but popular in that area of the world nonetheless.
“After I swam there, from that point on, I set my goal higher,” Stewart said. “I wanted to compete in the Olympics for Colombia.”
Stewart spent 2007 training and working toward achieving the qualifying cut. Her best event was the 200 backstroke, but when December rolled around and Stewart had not reached necessary qualifying the time, she conceded.
“It was sort of out of the way, so I decided to compete at the United States Trials,” Stewart said.
Stewart, a native of Durham, N.C., qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200 IM. She was one of 35 participants associated with the University of Virginia swimming program to compete in the event.
In Omaha at the trials, Stewart swam in a time trial for the 200 IM and made the cut that would have qualified her. Since it was a time trial and not an official part of the meet, her mark could be used for the Colombian team. But with the Olympic Games less than two months away, she still did not know if it would happen.
Though trying not to get her hopes up, Stewart said the details were finalized a few days later.
“When I got my cut, it was so soon before the Games,” Stewart said. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out, but I was the last person to join the team. There were 67 of us.”
Of meeting her new Colombian teammates, Stewart said it was challenging at first. After all, she was also an American.
“It did take awhile for them to accept me, especially because I can’t speak Spanish fluently,” Stewart said. “I would try and they appreciated that, but of course it’s weird that someone who can’t speak the language fluently was representing their country. It was a little bit of a setback.”
Luckily for Stewart, a few of her new teammates had experience training in the United States and therefore spoke English. Her coach, on the other hand, was a different story.
“It was hard to talk with the Colombian coach because he didn’t speak English at all,” Stewart said. “I was kind of on my own in that aspect with training myself.”
After touching down in Beijing, Stewart attended Opening Ceremonies, visited places like the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square and posed for pictures with the locals. She also competed at the Water Cube, the facility Michael Phelps made famous for his record-setting gold medal accomplishments.
“It was definitely a crazy experience,” she said. “All those people in China everything was focused on this event. There were so many countries at the Opening Ceremonies I hadn’t even heard of. I got to meet so many different people.”
The swimming competition itself was a little nerve-racking for Stewart. She was training and practicing on her own. She didn’t know if she had pushed herself hard enough.
“I had my doubts,” Stewart said. “I really had a breakout swim when I qualified and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it again. I just wanted to be able to swim my best time. I didn’t want to go there for a vacation I wanted to put my training into it and do well. Once I finished and I dropped a second, I was so happy.”
Stewart finished 32nd in Beijing with a time of lifetime-best time of 2:18.54. She now will look to build on her Olympic experience at Virginia. She still knows she can improve. She has goals of reaching new heights at the Olympic Games in London four years from now.
“I think it’s really cool I can go compete in the highest level meet in the world but then come here and there are still people who are faster than me,” Stewart said. “I have a lot of competition. I want to use the team and people who are faster than me to be able to improve. Hopefully in 2012 I can go back and set my goals higher maybe reach the semifinals or swim the final in the Olympics. That would be amazing. I still have four years at UVa and I have seen how well the team has developed. I hope to be a part of that.”