Drury University Athletics

Lynsey Fugate was a talented swimmer when she arrived at Drury in 2000-21, but she became a force for the Panthers in distance events.
 
“Lynsey was more of an IM’er when she got here,” said Bryan Beatty, then a Drury assistant who coached DU distance swimmers and is now the Associate Athletics Director for Internal Affairs. “We soon figured out, though, that she had a really good aerobic capacity. I probably ruined her IM career, but she started training more for distance and just took off.”
 
Fugate would turn into a four-time All-American in her freshman season. She was the national runner-up in the 1650 Free, turning in a time of 17:07.74. She was third at the national championship meet in the 1000 Free and 5^th in the 500 Free. Even with the move to distance events, Fugate still managed to finish fourth in the nation in the 400 Individual Medley. Her performance earned her Drury’s Most Valuable Swimmer Award in her rookie season as the Panthers finished as the NCAA-II Runner-Up.
 
As a sophomore, Fugate repeated her four-time All-American totals, earned that status in the 1650 Free, the 1000 Free, the 500 Free, and an honorable mention honor in the 400 IM.
 
Bigger things were on the horizon, though, for her junior year in 2003.
 
“I remember that year because we were watching the rankings and she was sitting at number one in the (1650 Free) the whole year,” said Beatty. “She kept staying there, and as the year went on, she got more and more confident and started to think – ‘Hey, I could win this.’ When it came time for that race, she went out and took control of it, and there was no question about it.”
 
Fugate turned in a dominant performance, posted a time of 17:00.54, and won the national title in the 1650 Free by more than six seconds.
 
“It was fun to watch that year and see the confidence just build in her,” added Beatty. “If I remember right, I think she was the only girl training in our distance group that year, so she was training with our men’s distance group every day. And there were times when she would just kill all the guys. It was just her consistency - some of the guys would have good days and bad days, but Lynsey was always consistently good.”
 
She would again be honored as Drury’s Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer in 2003 and turned in All-American performances in the 1000 Free, 500 Free, and 400 IM.
 
Drury added depth to the women’s distance group in 2004, and Fugate gave the two Panthers 1-2 national finishes as she was the NCAA-II Runner-up behind teammate Natalie Cordoza in the 1650 Free and the 1000 Free. Fugate was also third at the national meet in the 500 Free and helped Drury’s 800 Free Relay team to a third place national finish.
 
In four years, Fugate earned All-American honors 16 times. At the national championship meet In the 1650 Free, she earned two silver medals, a bronze, and the 2003 National Championship. She was twice named her team’s Swimmer of the Year, while the Panthers finished second in the nation in every season of her career.
 
Fugate, who now has a doctorate in Physical Therapy, works for Spectrum Home Health in Kansas City, where she is a home health physical therapist. She also still competes, having completed nine Ironman Triathlons, four marathons, five half-marathons, and two 50-kilometer races.