Who is this?

If you’re thinking that we used a low resolution pixelated photo for this installment of “Who is this?”, well, you’re half right. It does look that way, but it’s actually a photo of a tile mosaic. So it’s supposed to look this way.

It is a beautiful piece of art depicting a beautiful young woman, and by coincidence, she was born exactly 36 years ago today, on June 2, 1987, right here in Augusta. if you have ever wondered who is behind the Kathryn M. York Adapted Aquatics Center at the Wilson Family Y on Wheeler Road, this is her: this is Kathryn York, known to friends and family as Katie.

It’s no accident that a pool is named in her honor. Her resumé includes being a 2003-2004 Scholastic All-American for USA Swimming, a member of Georgia’s 2004 All State Team, and the state champion in the 100-meter backstroke. She was a member of the Aiken-Augusta Swim League for 10 years, and won the 2004 Coach’s Award for exemplary leadership in and out of the pool. Being just a teenager when all these milestones were reached, she was obviously a champion. She went on to enroll at Augusta State (now Augusta University) and was no doubt eagerly hired by the Family Y as an instructor in their adaptive swimming program, dedicated to improving the quality of life of individuals with physical and/or developmental challenges. She was looking forward to a career in rehabilitative services working with children with special needs.

Alas, it was not to be. In January 2005, Katie was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, a rare form of inflammation of the brain that can cause seizures, impaired motor skills and altered behavior. Her inspiring and promising life ended on May 20, 2008, less than two weeks shy of her 21st birthday.

Katie had been featured in a number of television news interviews and was profiled in the Augusta Chronicle too (if our memory serves us correctly), and as a result her death felt like a loss to the entire city. When a fund-raising drive was announced to collect funds to build a state of the art aquatics center in her honor at the Y, the response was immediate and generous.

As a result, the Kathryn M. York Adapted Aquatics Center was built and dedicated on this very date in 2011 — June 2 — on what would have been Katie’s 23rd birthday.

It’s no doubt difficult for her family to contemplate that today she would be 36 years old. Instead, she’ll always be 20, but she will also always be remembered by the people of Augusta. +

BY J.B. COLLUM