Brie Fair stepped onto the block at the District 2-3A meet knowing she was an underdog.
Seeded as a borderline top-five placer in the 100 backstroke, the Columbia junior wasn’t expected to contend for the title. But when Fair flipped at the wall for her final 50 yards, expectations no longer mattered.
“I remember stepping up to the block and right before I got in thinking, ‘I’m going to give it everything I have,’” Fair said. “And when I flip-turned to do that last 50, I just thought to put everything I had out there. It was my last race, so I had to give it everything I had.”
She did that — and then some.
Fair surged ahead and never looked back, touching the wall with a personal-best time of 1:07.06 to win the district title by more than two seconds over Fletcher’s Sterling Schneider (1:09.54). The performance capped a breakout postseason where she was also a regional qualifier in the 200 IM and 200 freestyle relay.
As a result, Fair has earned the title of Lake City Reporter Girls Swimmer of the Year.
“I was really excited,” Fair said of her district title. “I remember looking over and seeing my coach, he was throwing his fist up in the air he was so excited for me. It was a really good feeling.”
Raising that fist high was Columbia coach Ryan Shoemaker, who says Fair’s mental approach made the difference.
“She was very focused and didn’t let the nerves get to her,” Shoemaker said. “She pretty much knew where she had to go and she went there. She was very, very focused and driven to get there.”
Fair didn’t go into the race simply hoping to win the title. She says her plan was to pace herself around the other swimmers before giving it her all in the final 50 yards.
But by the halfway point, she realized she was in front of the pack.
“By the time I got in and finished that first 50, I already saw I was out ahead,” Fair said. “So I just wanted to give it everything I had in case they had anything left.”
While Fair was obviously pleased with her district title, she also impressed herself in the 200 IM. After not swimming the event the entire season, Shoemaker opted to put Fair in it at districts because he felt she could place high enough to advance to regionals.
Turns out, Shoemaker was right. Fair finished fourth with a time of 2:30.42, though not without some nerves along the way.
“I was extremely nervous because two of my strokes are pretty strong, the other two are pretty weak, and I knew I was going to have advantages and disadvantages,” Fair said. “I just went out there and gave it my all.”
At the Region 1-3A meet, Fair faced what Shoemaker called the deepest field in the state. She finished 20th in the 100 backstroke (1:07.90) and 24th in the 200 IM (2:32.62), holding her own against some of the fastest swimmers in the state.
The regional field in the 100 backstroke and 200 IM both included three swimmers who went on to finish in the top four at state, including the Class 3A champions.
“It was extremely tough,” Fair said. “Those girls are fast. They’re training every day all the time and they know what they’re doing, so you can’t let the thought of losing get in your head too much because it’ll just completely drag you down. You’ve got to go into it with the right headspace that you deserve to be there. You got yourself there, so you’ve just got to give it your all and do your best.”
Despite the tall odds, Shoemaker was impressed by how Fair handled the pressure at regionals.
“She did really well, stayed focused the whole time,” Shoemaker said. “There was really nothing that wasn’t just hard driven. She was ready to go. There were a ton of fast swimmers there. We swim in the fastest region in the state of Florida, but she held her own.”
In addition to her two individual events, Fair also anchored Columbia’s 200 freestyle relay team that placed fourth at districts (1:50.90) and 15th at regionals (1:48.64). The relay missed the final state-qualifying time of 1:46.97, while Fair needed to hit 1:03.85 in the 100 backstroke and 2:18.01 in the 200 IM.
While falling short this year of swimming at the state meet, she has plenty of motivation for her senior season.
“I plan on giving it 100% in all my practices,” Fair said. “I also plan on trying some new swims that I’ve never done before, kind of researching and dipping my feet into new races because you never know, I could be good at those, or I could just be better off what I’m swimming now. I’m trying to eat better, get in the right mindset before the season starts, do more research, watch more races and just get in a better place athletically. Just building up my body, my mind, things like that.”
Shoemaker believes the payoff is coming.
“It’s very, very difficult to get there, but we can do it,” Shoemaker said. “I have a feeling that this year for her will be great. Her senior year she’s going to come out flying and go.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
Brie Fair
Columbia, junior
The LCR’s Girls Swimmer of the Year won the District 2-3A title in the 100 backstroke (1:07.06) and also placed fourth in the 200 IM (2:30.42) at districts to qualify for regionals, where she finished 20th in the 100 backstroke (1:07.90) and 24th in the 200 IM (2:32.62) in Region 1-3A. She also swam on the 200 freestyle relay team that placed 15th at regionals (1:48.64) after finishing fourth at districts (1:50.90).
Emma Fielding
Columbia, freshman
Placed fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:52.38) and fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:07.24) at the District 2-3A meet to qualify for regionals, where she finished 22nd in the 500 freestyle (5:55.82) and 24th in the 100 butterfly (1:07.45) in Region 1-3A. She also swam on the 200 freestyle relay team that placed 15th at regionals (1:48.64) after finishing fourth at districts (1:50.90).
Oliviah Schneider
Suwannee, senior
Placed third in the 100 breaststroke (1:21.95) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:41.14) at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals, where she finished eighth in the 200 IM (2:38.15) and 13th in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.04) in Region 1-2A. She also swam on the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams that placed fourth at districts (2:00.55 in 200; 4:24.91 in 400), with the 200 squad then finishing 11th (2:00.57) and 400 squad finishing eighth (4:23.96) at regionals.
Brooklyn Long
Suwannee, junior
Placed seventh in the 50 freestyle (28.53) and ninth in the 100 freestyle at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals, where she finished 21st in the 50 freestyle (28.63) and 16th in the 100 freestyle (1:04.08) in Region 1-2A. She also swam on the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams that placed fourth at districts (2:00.55 in 200; 4:24.91 in 400), with the 200 squad then finishing 11th (2:00.57) and 400 squad finishing eighth (4:23.96) at regionals.
Julia Wainwright
Suwannee, sophomore
Placed seventh in the 500 freestyle at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals, where she finished 22nd (6:34.63) in Region 1-2A. She also swam on the 200 freestyle relay team that placed fourth at districts (2:00.55) and finished 11th (2:00.57) at regionals.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Doug Morgan, Suwannee
Morgan had an area-most 10 swimmers qualify for regionals in 12 events after the Suwannee girls placed fifth while the boys finished sixth at the District 2-2A meet.