IUPUI's Lexi Laird on Rio: 'It’s a really great way to tie out my career'
RIO DE JANEIRO – There will be no encore for Lexi Laird.
The former IUPUI swimmer failed to advance past the 100-meter backstroke heats Sunday at the Olympic Games. She spent 63 seconds in the pool in her first and what will be her only Olympic appearance. She plans to compete through the end of 2016.
“I’m glad I get to be here and experience all this,” Laird said. “It’s a really great way to tie out my career.”
Laird is one of 10 Seychellois who qualified for six Olympic events. Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean off of Africa’s east coast, has never won an Olympic medal.
Laird holds dual citizenship with the United States and Republic of Seychelles. Her mother, Angela Beier, was born in Seychelles and married a U.S. Air Force airman she met in Germany.
Laird, who started swimming at 6, was dedicating her Olympic performance to her mother. Beier died when Laird was 4, and the Olympics were a grand stage to honor her mother.
Cheering on Laird was a large group of family members. Her father, stepmother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother and grandfather were in attendance.
Laird’s time of 1:03.33 was 27th of 34 swimmers. The 16 best times moved on to the semifinals.
King sidesteps controversy over reinstated Russian swimmer
She placed third in her seven-person heat. Her 50-meter split of 29.58 was second-best and 0.03 behind leader Alicja Tchorz of Poland. Laird swam the second 50 meters in 33.75.
“It’s not my best time. It’s about a second off, but I was pretty happy,” Laird said. “It was pretty nerve-wracking. I just went out there. I’m not sure how fast I went … but it was pretty good.”
In the calendar year leading up the Olympics, Laird won gold medals in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter backstrokes at the Indian Ocean Island Games. She won a bronze medal in the 50 backstroke and took sixth in the 100 backstroke at the African Games.
Laird has trained and competed for the Carmel Swim Club since February 2015 after swimming four years at IUPUI, where she was a team captain. A Carmel coach, Ian Murray, was designated the coach for Seychelles' swim team.
Laird graduated in December with a double major in accounting and finance. She is looking to begin a job in public accounting in January, which will mean the end of her swimming career. She aims to compete in the short course World Championships, which are Dec. 6-11 at Windsor, Ontario.
While 100-meter backstroke was Laird’s only Olympic event, she will stay in Brazil until after the closing ceremony. She marched in the opening ceremony but didn’t blame time spent standing on her performance.
“I’m very glad that I did,” she said. “It was a little hard on the legs for a bit, but I went and had an ice bath yesterday. It was really awesome.”