12 minute read
HOMEGROWN ATHLETES
The Then and Now of Pensacola's Professional Athletes
by Nicole Willis
When we think about successful athletes, we often think about people from a few select
places— Los Angeles, New York City, etc. The truth is, anyone can become successful, no matter where they’re from. Some of the most talented athletes in the world come from smaller towns and cities. Pensacola has sprouted several talented athletes of its own, some of which have gone on to compete at the Olympic level. Here are the inspiring stories of four of Pensacola’s most elite athletes.
Justin Gatlin is a Pensacola-native Olympic Champion and one of the fastest sprinters of all time. Throughout his decade-spanning career, Gatlin has garnered a slew of awards including U.S. Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals in sprinting. Despite his impressive accomplishments, Gatlin has humble beginnings rooted in Pensacola. In his youth, Gatlin tried out a variety of sports, but fell in love with track and field. During his teen years, he competed as a hurdler while attending Woodham High School in Pensacola. Gatlin went on to the University of Tennessee to pursue his love of running. He began his sprinting journey in college and started racking up accomplishments and beating records. Seeing all of his success, Gatlin decided to cut his college career short to take his sprinting career a step forward and try to go into the pros. “From a physical standpoint, I did everything I could do in college,” Gatlin said. “In my freshman year, I tied a 30-yearold record of winning 100 meters and 200 meters as a freshman. Then I repeated the process again during my sophomore year. Within that timeframe of two years of being in college, we won the NCAA championship, outdoor and indoor. So there was really nothing left for me to do except keep winning until I lose. So I betted on going pro, to see where it could take me.” That gamble ended up paying off for Gatlin, as he became one of the most decorated sprinters to date. Gatlin has received one gold Olympic medal, two silver Olympic medals and two bronze Olympic medals. He won each type of medal for his 100-meter dash. Throughout his career, Gatlin beat legendary sprinter Usain Bolt multiple times, including during Bolt's final race in 2017. Gatlin reflected on beating Bolt in his final race: “It was a weird feeling because it wasn't like I just beat him at a championship and then it was like ‘alright cool, I'm going to see him at another race later, or I'm going to see him next year.’ It was his last race of his career. His last 100 meters in a World Championship final. This was the last time I was going to have the opportunity to race him… and I beat him. It was rewarding, but at the same time I had to say farewell to someone who was my fiercest competitor.” World Athletics ranks Gatlin as the 5th fastest sprinter in the world to complete the 100-meter dash. He got to this position by setting his personal best record of 9.74 seconds in Qatar at the IAAF Doha Diamond League. Though Gatlin announced his retirement in February of 2022, he remains a prominent figure in the athletic world. He currently runs Spire Fitness, an online coaching program for anyone looking to get fit or increase their athletic performance. The program combines nutrition and meal planning guidance from a nutritionist, workouts prepared and monitored by Gatlin and trainers, and support from Gatlin and the Spire Fitness team. The program is personalized to each specific person and their needs. “It is basically tailored to every specific athlete that wants to do something,” Gatlin said. In addition to Spire Fitness, Gatlin is working on his foundation, the Justin Gatlin Foundation. The foundation focuses on progressing the youth in their sports. Gatlin explained some of the foundation’s recent goals— “the Justin Gatlin foundation is going to start doing more training and speed agilities for kids and younger athletes. It's going to be speed agility that's catering not only to track and field but all groups of sports.” To keep up with Gatlin, visit @justingatlin on Instagram.
Beth Barr
Imagine yourself as a 16-year-old. Now imagine yourself as a 16-year-old on an Olympic stage. This monumental picture was the reality for Pensacola-native and professional swimmer, Elizabeth (Beth) Barr. Barr grew up in Pensacola and discovered her love of swimming at a young age. In her childhood, Barr’s mother placed her in all kinds of sports and extracurricular activities to find out what her daughter was interested in. When Barr tried out swimming, she immediately took a liking to it and excelled at it. This skill and passion would lead her into a career of swimming that she is still active in today. At only 16 years of age, Barr competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. During her swim career, she spent most of her time perfecting her backstroke. This dedication paid off, as Barr won a silver medal by swimming the backstroke portion of the women's 4 x 100 meter medley relay.
In addition to this high placement, Barr also finished fourth in the women's 200 meter backstroke and fifth in the women's 100 meter backstroke. Despite accomplishing such large feats at a young age, the success did not phase teenage Barr. “I was going into the Olympics at number two in the world. Now I understand how amazing that is, but at the time, it seemed normal,” Barr explained. “When you're in it, you're focused on performing at your highest level. You're so into what you're doing and making sure you're doing everything right that you're not really stepping back and looking at the big picture. As you get older, you can step back, enjoy and appreciate everything. But when you're in the middle of it, you really don't have time for that. You're supposed to be performing.” In college, Barr attended the University of Texas where she was a part of the championship winning team. “I'm very proud of what we did at the University of Texas when we won the NCAA championship. When we went to the championship in 1991, it was such a good feeling,” Barr said. “The backstrokers had the full hand in it. We were so close, down to the wire, and I won the 200 back. Then I got second in the 100, and my teammate got first in the 100 and then that completely sealed up our championship. So that felt really, really good.” Though she no longer swims competitively, swimming is still a large part of Barr’s life. Nowadays she owns and operates her own swim school called Barracuda Swimworks. The swim school teaches Barr’s own curriculum, which is designed to help people of all ages learn how to swim for survival. As much as Barr enjoys competitive swimming, she is also passionate about making sure everyone has the swim skills they need to save themselves from drowning. “I have my own curriculum, it's my own little survival swim method,” Barr explained. “It's very simple and easy. I'm actually hoping to get that method taught to other municipalities and other programs.” If you would like to learn more about Barr’s current ventures, check out barracudaswimworks.com.
Adron Chambers is a Penacola-native and a former Major League Baseball player. As a teenager, he attended Pensacola High School where he was the football team’s star quarterback. Chambers went to Mississippi State University (MSU) to play football. However, an ACL injury in college switched up his athletic and professional path completely. As a child, Chambers grew up playing sports with the kids in his neighborhood. He loved playing football, basketball and baseball, but he never imagined that he would be playing sports professionally. “I was always playing sports. Was I dreaming of being a major league ball player or NFL player? No, I was just having fun with it," he explained. Chambers followed his love and enjoyment of sports into college, where he attended MSU. While attending college on a football scholarship, Chambers tore his ACL. This unexpected injury and the resulting surgery left him in confusion about what to do next. “There was a lot that I was going through just trying to find myself again. After the things that happened at Mississippi State, I was just confused about what direction I was heading, not even just with sports, but in my life,” Chambers explained. After the injury, he transferred to Pensacola Junior College (now Pensacola State College) back at home. “I looked at Pensacola Junior College as a way to restart,” he said. While at Pensacola Junior College, Chambers rediscovered his love for baseball and was convinced to join the school’s team. Spending quite some time playing baseball and perfecting his performance, Chambers turned his sport into his career. In 2007, Chambers made his debut in the minor league playing for the Johnson City Cardinals. After a few more years in the minor leagues, Chambers entered the major league in 2011 when he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. Chambers remained with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2011 to 2013. During this time, the team won the 2011 World Series. Despite this win seeming like a huge deal, Chambers does not view the win as more significant than others. “I won so many championships as a youth. I was around winning all my life, whether it was baseball or football. So those kinds of moments really stick out to me and the World Series sticks out to everybody else,” he said. Chambers elaborated on his career highlights saying, “I guess winning the World Series and receiving that key to the city [of Pensacola] are two highlights, as I am able to represent Pensacola— my favorite place of all time.” After his time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Chambers went on to play for the Houston Astros, as he signed a minor league deal with the team in late 2013. Since then, Chambers has jumped around and played for a variety of professional baseball teams including the Chicago Cubs, Ottawa Champions, Bridgeport Bluefish and more. Apart from baseball, today Chambers is focusing his time on being a dad and teaching baseball to children throughout the community. He is passionate about helping kids in the community discover a healthy and enjoyable hobby. “I want to use baseball as a tool to uplift our youth, help them find a path and let them understand that there's so much more out in this world,” Chambers explained. “I grew up on a street in downtown Pensacola where it was rough, so having sports definitely gave me a place to go to lash out anger and frustration, or just have a good time in general.” To keep up with Chambers, follow his Instagram at @adronchambers.
Adron Chambers
Michelle Snow
Born and raised in Pensacola, Michelle Snow first experienced a taste of success when she led Pensacola High School to the state championship in 1998. From there, Snow’s success in her sport only went up. Growing up, Snow always knew that she wanted to play basketball professionally. However, she was met with a sad reality– in the 80s and 90s, women were rarely seen in the professional basketball scene. The WNBA was only founded in 1996, which is 50 years after the foundation of the NBA. Snow recalls that even her father told her that her dream would likely not be able to become a reality. “I told my dad I was gonna play professional basketball. He laid it out and told me, ‘that's not an option for women.’ I was like, ‘then I'll go overseas, or I'll figure it out. But I am playing professional basketball,’” Snow explained. Despite the odds against her, Snow chased her dream of going pro and ended up doing just that. In college, Snow played for the University of Tennessee, where she became the third woman in NCAA college basketball history to dunk during a game. In her professional career, Snow has played in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), USA Basketball and the National Women’s Basketball
League (NWBL). In 2002, Snow was a first-round draft pick by the Houston Comets. In her WNBA career, Snow went on to play for the Atlanta Dream, San Antonio Silver Stars, Chicago Sky, Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks. Similar to her dunking accomplishment in college, in 2006 Snow became the second player ever to dunk in a WNBA all-star game. She was also awarded the title of WNBA All-Star in 2005 and 2006. During her WNBA off-seasons, Snow played on several teams overseas including a Russian team, Dynamo Kursk, which led to her winning a EuroCup with the team in 2012. In her years playing overseas, she has played for teams from Spain, Israel and Turkey. Despite all of her career successes, Snow says one specific moment was the highlight of her career. “When I think about the WNBA and my professional highlight, it's always been the same– my mom getting flown out to New York and watching me be drafted live in the arena. That moment was huge, because I didn't necessarily know that it would happen,” Snow said. Snow’s mother has Lupus, so this moment was very special for her. “She's one of the reasons that I wanted to get to the pros so bad, to try to ease some of those financial burdens. Allowing her to be a part of that is definitely by far the biggest highlight for me.” Today, Snow spends most of her time working for Nike. She is able to take her passion for accessible athletics into her current job. “I went from being a Nike athlete to now managing a lot of the classic products within Nike. So when you think of classics, you're talking about the Air Force One, the retro basketball, etc. I also do the access line, which is a ton of fun,” Snow said. “I enjoy doing it [the access line] because I was the kid that couldn't afford the access. So being able to create access for everyone that wants a piece of the Nike dream means a lot to me.” To keep up with Snow, follow her on Instagram at @michellesnow2.
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