Maryland Swimming, Inc., a branch of U.S. Swimming, inducted one of Howard County's all-time great athletes into its Hall of Fame last Thursday in Timonium.
Tami Paumier (Wilde Lake) was just a week shy of her 16th birthday when she shocked the swimming world by upsetting Tracy Caulkins in the 100-meter breaststroke to win the gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Paumier's time was 1 minute, 12.20 seconds.
She had set the stage for the upset by finishing second to Caulkins in the 100-yard breaststroke at the U.S. national meet.
Paumier, who competed for the Columbia Aquatics Association under coach Pat Smith, achieved her swimming fame with an assist from a broken arm.
As a young athlete she was a serious gymnast, but broke her arm at age 12. After the arm healed, she had trouble rotating her wrist and her doctor recommended swimming.
She had taken swimming lessons in Ann Arbor, Mich., at age 5, and in Columbia from 5 to 9, so when she took her doctor's advice she already had a swimming foundation.
But no one could have predicted that by 1977-78, after just two years of serious swimming work, she would be nationally ranked in five individual events, including third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.36) for 13-14 girls and second (1:15.88) in the 100-meter breaststroke.
She attended Olympic training camps in Squaw Valley, Calif., and finished sixth in the Senior Nationals (world trials) in a year in which the U.S. women beat the powerful East German team. She was ranked 14th in the world that year.
"Swimming was a lot of fun then," she said.
The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow cost her an opportunity to compete in what is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But in 1981 she went on to win the Big Ten championship in the breaststroke at Michigan, and she later transferred to Virginia and swam for the Cavaliers. She graduated with a degree in architecture and has opened her own small architectural firm in New York.
Paumier is one of 16 members of the Maryland Swimming Hall of Fame.
Her older sister, Terri, was the first athlete from Howard County to win a swimming scholarship -- to Ohio State.
As Hall of Fame souvenirs, Paumier received an engraved glass bowl and a tape that covered the inductees' careers. But she also may have drummed up some architectural business at the induction luncheon.
Jamie LeGoff, who is trying to build a 50-meter pool in Columbia, was at the ceremony and said he'd like Paumier to design part of the facility.
Lights at River Hill?
One consequence of the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association's decision Saturday to go with open-playoff formats for all team sports, except football, is that Howard County might get a second school with a lighted field. Howard High is now the only one with lights.
County coordinator of athletics Don Disney thinks the county will need more than one site that can play host to playoffs.
Playoff revenue will be critical to pay for the increased costs of officials and transportation that an open-playoff system engenders.
Disney reluctantly decided not to vote against the open format, even though he still has philosophical differences with it.
"I don't think a team with a losing record should be in the playoffs, but I'm trying to be as open-minded as I can, since support for it was overwhelming," he said. "But now I'll have to push for lights at River Hill to pay for this."
He said that six of eight athletic directors at the county's high schools came out in support of the new format.
"Soccer and boys lacrosse coaches were unanimously in favor, but girls lacrosse coaches and field hockey coaches were mostly opposed," Disney said.
Long odds
What are the odds against a basketball team playing two straight games with the identical final score?
Centennial's boys basketball team lost to Thomas Johnson, 59-54, Friday. The Eagles came back on Monday and defeated Bel Air, 59-54.
And what was the score in Centennial's only other game? It was almost three in a row, the Eagles defeating C. Milton Wright, 59-57.
Defense appears to be Centennial's forte, especially after holding high-powered Thomas Johnson below 60 points.