Most collegiate swimmers, particularly in the Northeast, fall in love with the water splashing around in neighborhood or country club pools. Leslie Dame '28 developed her stroke in the western Pacific Ocean.
In the 4th grade, Leslie read Trudy's Big Swim, a biography on early women's rights activist and swimmer Gertrude Ederle. In 1926, "The Queen of Waves" became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. By the end of the book, Leslie had decided that one day she too would swim the English Channel (it's a childhood dream that she's never once wavered on). Her open water training began almost immediately – handling the swimming leg of mini-triathlons off the coast of Guam. She was eight years old.
A year earlier, Leslie's father, who served in the Coast Guard, was given a new assignment. The family of five moved from Virginia to the westernmost territory in the U.S. (Guam – the largest island in Micronesia – is closer to both Australia and China than the California coast).
"The water was so clear and beautiful, but I had a fear of it at first. I had to learn to get past that. Once I did, I felt like I belonged in the water. Looking back, no wonder my dad was so nervous. I was swimming 750 meters in the open Pacific at eight years old."
When Leslie was 11, the family moved again, and because her dad was in the Coast Guard, an ocean was a given. This time they settled in Miami, where Leslie continued to mature as a swimmer. When she was in high school, she started sending out inquiries to swim coaches across the country.
"I probably sent out more than 200 emails to college coaches. I thought I hit every Division I team. Turns out I missed Siena. So it's a good thing they reached out to me."
Leslie got an email from the Siena coach, and by then, she had decided to major in history. Her parents had made informal history lessons and trips to monuments a theme of her childhood, and in Guam, artillery remnants left on the beach are a reminder of the Japanese occupation during World War II. Leslie looked up Siena's history department online and then realized what Siena's proximity must be to Revolutionary War sights. She decided to take a look.
"I had probably visited four or five schools before Siena, and I had a number of visits lined up after Siena. I canceled them all. The culture of a school is so important to me. It was clear on my visit that the Siena community was special. I'm so glad I made this choice."
Leslie is involved with the public history certificate program and she's recently started working with the College's Laudato Si' Center as well.
"With history, it's important to understand your own history and respect other's. Ecology is the same thing. It's about respect. It's about learning how to exist in the environment in a way that isn't harmful to other people and species. I love to snorkel, but I'm seeing the impact our neglect is having on marine life."
Leslie's favorite place on the planet is Old Wives Beach in Guam. There's a magnificent ecosystem that includes brilliant coral attached to rusted artillery scattered in the bay. It's the intersection of her three passions – history, ecology, and open water.
"I love that beach so much. It's a reminder that we can't forget our history, but we don't have to be captive to it either. Life comes back in beautiful ways."
