The Stranger in the Lifeboat

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ANCHOR: Tonight, Tyler Brewer completes his tribute series on the victims of
the Galaxy yacht with a profile of a famous name in swimming who,
tragically, was lost to the sea.
REPORTER: Thank you, Jim. Geri Reede was most at home in the water. From
the age of three, she was swimming at a local pool in Mission Viejo,
California. Before she was ten, she was competing in national events. A selfdescribed
“pool rat” and the daughter of a swim-instructor mother and an
oceanographer father, Geri qualified for the US Olympic team when she was
nineteen. She went to the Games in Sydney and won a gold medal in the
breaststroke and two silvers in the relay events. She made the team again
four years later and captured a silver medal in Athens before retiring from
the sport and spending a year as a global ambassador for world hunger.
At twenty-six, Reede decided to try medical school, but left after two
semesters. Describing herself as “restless” without competitive sports, she
spent a year crewing with the yacht Athena, an America’s Cup challenger.
Eventually Reede partnered with a fitness company to create Water
Works!, a health-care line for athletes that blossomed into a hugely
successful company. Reede’s signature spiked blond hair and smart if
somewhat acerbic style endeared her to fans, and she became a spokesperson
in the Water Works! ad campaigns.
Although Geri Reede never married or had children, she often spoke about
the importance of early swimming lessons for kids. “Fear of the water is one
of the earliest fears we have,” she once said. “The faster we get over it, the
faster we learn how to overcome others.”
Reede was thirty-nine years old when she vanished with nearly four dozen
others aboard the Galaxy.
“Geri was a trailblazer and an inspiration for young women everywhere,”
said Yuan Ross, a spokesperson for USA Swimming. “She was somebody you
wanted on your team, in the pool and in life. Losing her is a tragedy.”