Guidry wraps up collegiate career as an All-American

Local swimmer Amanda Guidry swooped for the finish line and touched the wall for the final time.

For most swimmers, what follows would be sadness or disbelief that their careers are finally over.

But Guidry rose from the water and cried tears of joy. She did it her way – always – and has no regrets about anything in her career.

“It didn’t matter what place I got in that race,” Guidry said. “All I wanted to do was swim with my heart. I wanted to be that little girl who started swimming and started loving it, that little girl who endured all the pain and all of the challenges I’d been through with swimming. I wanted to be that little girl again who left every ounce of energy I had in the pool in that last race … My last race was truly from my heart.”

In total, it was an 18-year career for the Cut Off native that ended as an unquestioned success story.

Guidry was an eight-time All-American in her collegiate career at Delta State University.

The local swimmer holds the school record in the 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay.

“I have no regrets about anything,” the Cut Off native said. “I always swam for me, not for anyone else. And I am very proud of that.”

Guidry wasn’t born in a swimming pool, but it didn’t take long for her to hit the water. She first got introduced to swimming at nine months, learned to swim on her own at 18 months and began to swim competitively at 3 years old.

“My parents built a pool, so they wanted to make sure I knew what to do if I ever was wandering around,” Guidry said. “So they put me in the water and I just knew what to do. It just came naturally.”

Guidry swam for the Cut Off Youth Center swimming team, before also joining the Bayou Barracudas team in Houma.

In high school, Guidry joined the Crescent City Swim Club in New Orleans – which she said increased her competition level and got her prepared for collegiate swimming.

“They really showed me that if I want to do this for college, I need to keep practicing every day,” Guidry said. “You know, New Orleans and Houma are both far from Cut Off and I’d have to drive an hour to go and come back every day, but I loved it because I knew I had to do it to swim in college – which was always my goal.”

Guidry’s goal became reality when Delta State came calling following her senior season.

This was following a dominant high school career at South Lafourche that saw her win both All-District and All-State honors.

She was also the team’s MVP and captain as a Tarpon.

Guidry said the facilities at Delta State are what attracted her to the school.

“The thing that got me was the pool,” she said. “The pool was gorgeous. Growing up, I swam in the Cut Off pool, which was outside and that got really old. And the other two pools I swam at were really small. But when I got here and saw the pools, I fell in love. The aquatic center is absolutely amazing.”

But with a new level of competition came a new dedication level. Guidry said avoiding burnout was a challenge – but she is proud she was able to overcome and stick with the team.

“My class, we started with 15 as freshmen, but now, we only had six seniors who stayed the entire time. It’s so hard. It takes a toll on you. Those practices at 4:30 in the morning – you don’t always want to do it, but I told myself that I’m not a quitter and I am glad I did it.”

So with her swimming career now complete, Guidry plans graduate in psychology and pursue a Master’s to become a Licensed Professional Counselor.

Following her completion of the Master’s program, Guidry said she wants to get a PH.D in Clinical Psychology.

No matter what the future holds outside the pool, the lessons learned in it will be her strength.

“Everything I learned in swimming will help me in my job,” Guidry said. “I’m always going to be on time, for sure. I learned that from my practices. There are just so many lessons that I will take with me forever.”

Delta State senior and Cut Off native Amanda Guidry swims at a meet during her senior season. After a decorated career at South Lafourche, Guidry became an eight-time All American with the school. * Photo provided by AMANDA GUIDRY