Former Georgia Swimmer Lauren English Among Healthcare Workers Helping Fight Coronavirus

Photo Courtesy: University of Georgia Athletics

Lauren English was a leader as a swimmer at the University of Georgia, a captain for the Bulldogs on the NCAA Championships runner-up squad in 2012. In her professional life, she’s a leader in the fight against coronavirus in the New York metro area.

English, as profiled by the Athens Banner-Herald, works as a neurology nurse at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan, near the epicenter of one of the United States’ most severe COVID-19 outbreaks. Though her specialty involves audiology and speech pathology, the sports studies major is also chipping in to what is becoming an all-hands-on-deck scenario.

“Right now, that is what we’re dealing with,” English said. “This is what we have in our country. We have this crisis. I don’t think any health care worker is not faced with working with these patients. We’re in it. Even though I’m in neurology, that’s what I’m focused on right now. You don’t have a specialty at this point. Your goal is to help with this pandemic and to help society.”

English swam for Georgia from 2008-12, including an injury redshirt year. The native of Lincoln Park, N.J., was an honorable mention All-American in 2011 and a regular at SECs, the sprinter and backstroker a valuable cog in the Bulldogs’ relay rotation. She once held the U.S. Open record in the 50-meter backstroke and competed at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships and 2007 World University Games.

Both English and Georgia coach Jack Bauerle fondly remember their time as pupil and coach.

“They wanted to see the best in you,” English said. “That’s why many people go to Georgia and seek out that program because it’s not a program where they leave you. …They still keep in touch with me and they’re still very much a part of my life.”

“The race I can remember most for her is she could barely get her shoulder moving and she laid it down for us,” Bauerle said. “I like kids with an edge and she had it. She was a competitor and I’m sure she is the same way now in her job. She’s a tough person and I think that’s who we need up there right now. That’s the hot seat as far as the virus in our country.”

Read the full story on Lauren English here.

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