Farmer arrived in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the Unites States, in 2004 to work with the governor’s coral reef advisory board. There to help preserve the reefs against the threat of pollution and global climate change, she yearned to immerse herself into the culture. She’d already completed a two-year tour with the Peace Corps in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, where one of her successful projects included the founding of a still-operational independent community library. And with her swimming background she began to notice something peculiar. “It seems to be pretty common among island cultures that swimming is not a high priority for islanders,” Farmer said, “and as a result, there are a lot of drownings.” So when she heard they were looking for volunteers to help teach people of all ages to swim in the ocean, Farmer was ready to give up her Saturdays for the venture.
Jamaica RPCV Ginny Farmer will swim in the Olympics for American Samoa after almost a decade away from a pool
Former SLO resident takes a most unusual route to Beijing Olympics
Former SLO resident Ginny Farmer will swim in the Olympics for American Samoa after almost a decade away from a pool
By Joshua D. Scroggin
Ginny Farmer is no ordinary Olympian --
Ginny Farmer is no ordinary Olympian — though she did try the conventional route.
The San Luis Obispo High alumna helped deliver the Tigers a CIF-Southern Section divisional team title by the time she graduated in 1993.
She went on to appear twice in the NCAA Division I Championships and placed 15th in the country in the 200- meter individual medley during a four-year collegiate career at Rice.
She even made an appearance in the 1996 U. S. Olympic Trials but did not come especially close to making the team.
But now, nearly 10 years after she hung up her swim cap, Farmer finds herself thrust into the same world-class pool as the likes of legends Michael Phelps and Dara Torres as a member of the Olympic team of American Samoa.
With two Olympic swimming exemptions to hand out, officials from American Samoa decided to give one to Farmer, who during her two-and-a-half year residency in the tiny island territory helped build the swimming program from the ground up.
Though she was originally apprehensive about the race — she hasn’t competed at all this century — she tries not to think about it.
The chance of experiencing the pageantry and competition of the
Olympics was too enticing to pass up, making the angst a tolerable bump in the road.
“This was certainly not what I had in mind,” Farmer, 32, said by phone about her one-time Olympic aspirations. “My mindset is it’s an excellent experience. I’m going to see a lot of really fast swimmers, and I’m going to experience a lot of things that I normally wouldn’t see. In terms of competition, I have no delusions. I’m not at that level, but I will work hard to get as close to that level as I can before the time comes.”
Farmer arrived in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the Unites States, in 2004 to work with the governor’s coral reef advisory board. There to help preserve the reefs against the threat of pollution and global climate change, she yearned to immerse herself into the culture.
She’d already completed a two-year tour with the Peace Corps in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, where one of her successful projects included the founding of a still-operational independent community library.
And with her swimming background she began to notice something peculiar.
“It seems to be pretty common among island cultures that swimming is not a high priority for islanders,” Farmer said, “and as a result, there are a lot of drownings.”
So when she heard they were looking for volunteers to help teach people of all ages to swim in the ocean, Farmer was ready to give up her Saturdays for the venture.
The program started slow and fluctuated.
Some days, Farmer said, volunteer instructors would outnumber students four to zero. On other days, 40-plus boy scouts might show up looking to learn and earn their swimming badges all in one day.
Students ranged from middle school to middle-aged.
Within 10 months of Farmer’s residency, the swimming program received grant money to train and hire new employees, and the focus began to shift toward making it a competitive venture.
The 2005 South Pacific mini games were coming up in Palau, a country near The Philippines, and Farmer began to coach swimmers for the competition.
The team did not have a pool, hardly swam out in the ocean deeper than four feet and fought through currents and surf just to get its laps in.
Trying to teach flip turns in the pool, volunteers dragged a piece of plywood out into the water, where three or four of them held it up for the swimmers to push off.
“I loved it, every minute of it,” Farmer said. “It was very challenging … (but) it was very fun.”
Though the swimming pro-gram has made great strides, American Samoa did not have any swimmers qualify for the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee lets each team enter a male and female participant in the 50-meter freestyle if no swimmers have met the minimum standards.
Farmer initially turned down the nomination, hoping officials might be able to find a candidate with stronger ethnic ties to American Samoa.
Farmer, who began swimming with the San Luis Obispo Seahawks at 6 years old and still holds the record for being the youngest finisher of the SLO Triathlon at age 8, has her roots firmly entrenched in the Central Coast.
But when officials from American Samoa told her the only other female Olympic candidate was 11 years old, she reconsidered, despite having left the area more than a year ago.
“I was afraid she’d say no, just because she’d competed at a fairly high level,” Farmer’s father, Dave, said. “She was in the (U. S.) Olympic Trials. For her to go and swim at the level she’s swimming now, I was afraid it would embarrass her. I really wanted her to go, but I didn’t want to push her. So, I just said, ‘Wow, what a really great opportunity.’ ”
Farmer swam a heat on short notice in the most recent world championships, and she’s been training two to three hours a day near her home in the suburban Washington D. C. area. She continues to work in environmental conservation.
She might be matched up in the 50 freestyle with Torres, the 41-year-old former gold medalist in the midst of a much higher-profile return from retirement. Watching Torres and others make history, Farmer said, is the ultimate allure.
“Having just watched the Olympic Trials, some really fast swims and world records,” Farmer said, “I think it’s going to be the likes of which I haven’t seen in person before.”
