Beth Barnes' Secret Revealed

By ZACHARY MOORE



The sun is still hours away from peeking over the horizon, steam is rising off the pool and the lifeguards are shivering as they brave the morning cold. As the clock strikes 6 a.m., Dr. Beth Barnes arrives at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Recreation and Wellness Center for her morning workout and teaching sessions. Barnes looks no different than other morning swimmers getting laps in before a day at work. The morning progresses and numerous people approach her, some simply to talk, and others for help with their strokes.

From the pool Barnes makes her way to work, but she doesn’t travel far – just to the third floor of Millican Hall and the Office of the President, where she’ll put in a full day serving UCF as vice president and chief of staff to the president. Explaining how she manages to work out in the morning and then pull a full day in the office Barnes says “It is just discipline”.

Barnes makes time in her schedule several times a week to not only train herself for triathlons but help train others. Four years ago Barnes started using Total Immersion, to help with her training. Since learning TI, Barnes has become a certified instructor and has taught approximately 150 students.

The Total Immersion technique emulates the grace of Olympians, teaching swimmers a more efficient way to swim. According to Barnes, “TI teaches you to be balanced and aligned so you can slip through the water with as little drag – and therefore as effortlessly – as possible,” Barnes said.

Visiting Barnes’ office the importance of her job is evident from the tall stacks of folders on her desk and the seriousness with which she approaches her job. Most people would not be able to manage such imposing responsibilities along with ambitious athletic ventures. “I plan my time very carefully, I get things done that are important to me,” Barnes said.

Barnes has always been an athlete though, so this is nothing new. “I’ve always been really active, I was a dancer, I started running when I was about 40, then I added swimming,” Barnes said. She attempted her first triathlon many years ago but experienced great difficulty with the swim. “I did my first triathlon about 25 years ago and I was a terrible swimmer, next to last person out of the water,” she said. After that experience Barnes held off on doing another triathlon until five years ago and has since competed in 30 to 40 with much more success. “I generally finish first or second in my age group,” she said.

Along with triathlons she has competed in 300 road races, 13 marathons and a half Ironman. Barnes competed in the half Ironman – consisting of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run – three years ago after passing her 60th birthday.

Along with her morning swims, Barnes also trains vigorously outside the water. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Barnes will run at 6 a.m., and usually take a long bike ride on most Sundays. Although she has had setbacks in her training lately, Barnes wants to compete in the St. Anthony’s Triathlon at the end of April and plans to compete in the sprint events at Clermont over the summer.

As amazing as her own accomplishments are, what stands out about Barnes is her dedication to teaching TI. Last semester Barnes began teaching lessons formally every Wednesday night at the Recreation and Wellness Center. Students taking these lessons had no idea about their teacher’s “day job.” To them she was simply Coach Beth and she said nothing about what she did from 9 to 5, because as she says, “It doesn’t have anything to do with teaching Total Immersion.”

When one of her current students Trinity Rodriguez, a freshman at UCF found out about Barnes’ day job, Rodriguez felt privileged and became even more impressed with her instructor. “It feels good that she knows my name, and it shows a sign of her character, she’s dedicated to the students. She’s amazing,” Rodriguez said.

While it is amazing that Barnes is able to fit this teaching schedule into her life, this barely touches upon her impact on her students. Many of her students come to her wishing to compete in triathlons but frustrated in that ambition by swimming. Growing up, Darren Sevel watched his father compete in triathlons and has wanted to join him since. “My Dad is kind of my mentor, I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time, but I didn’t know how to swim.” Sevel said. After completing a 6-week course with Barnes, Sevel has already signed up for another sessions of lessons to continue his progress. He plans to compete in his first triathlon next month.

Priscilla Kramer found out about the swim lessons from members of the Tri-Knight club, a group of 40 students who compete in triathlons around the area. Barnes serves as the faculty sponsor for the Tri-Knights; she attends races in the area, encourages the athletes and even writes training plans. So many people come away from these lessons amazed with their progress; they recommend TI to friends and family members. Kramer had already begun to tell others about the lessons before completing her 6-week session.

Dr. Barnes will retire from her position as vice president and chief of staff next January. But her dedication to her job is so deep that she fully expects to be back working for the president even after her retirement. For her swim lessons though, Barnes has no intention on stopping anytime soon saying, she will teach “til’ I can’t stand up.”

Zachary Moore is a student at the University
of Central Florida. He wrote this profile of Beth Barnes for a journalism class and for the Central Florida Future, the independent student paper at UCF.

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