By Daniel Messinger
UC Santa Barbara senior Tara Middleton knows what it means to be a Gaucho.
She’s been schooled on the subject her whole life, having been raised by her father Jim, a member of the Gaucho swim team during the 1982-83 and 1984-85 seasons. Jim walked-on after transferring from Diablo Valley Community College. His roommate was another walk-on, Richard Schroeder, and the two became good friends. According to 40-year UCSB former head coach Gregg Wilson, the two developed a mutually beneficial friendship, pushing each other to reach new heights beyond what they thought they could achieve when they first arrived in Santa Barbara.
Middleton and Schroeder enjoyed swimming together so much that when Schroeder took a year off to train for the 1984 Olympics, Middleton red-shirted, retaining his final year of eligibility and training alongside Schroeder. After the Olympics, where Schroeder won a gold medal, he and Middleton returned for the 1984-85 season, both having made huge improvements in the pool. Wilson credits Middleton’s development to his brains and work-ethic, describing Middleton as “very smart and very hard-working”. He earned a spot on the Gauchos’ 400 Free Relay team, which made it all the way to the NCAA Championships.
Middleton and Schroeder’s incredibly successful careers after walking-on would help create a new reputation for the UCSB Swim program. The program became known for creating championship athletes out of recruits who weren’t highly touted out of high school.
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Thirteen years after Middleton graduated from Santa Barbara, Tara was born, and from an early age was exposed to UCSB Swimming. Wilson recalls, “I’ve known Tara since she was two or three years old”. Middleton and Schroeder’s children were close in age, and when the Middleton family visited Schroeder’s, Wilson would babysit. Soon enough, Tara picked up the family sport and valued her dad’s mentorship. “My dad was always super supportive of me and would try to lead me on the right path to becoming a college swimmer, especially with things like good nutrition, getting enough sleep, and overall good lifestyle habits,” Tara said. “He was always very positive in the feedback he gave me, I never felt like I disappointed him at any point, even when I had bad swims.”
By the time Tara was swimming in high school, Wilson was still coaching at Santa Barbara. He helped in recruiting her to walk-on, but Tara didn’t need much convincing. “I had been on campus multiple times while growing up and had been exposed to the team, so in my head, I always knew I wanted to go to UCSB,” she remembers. However, by the time Tara actually arrived at UCSB, Wilson had retired after 40 years as the Gauchos head coach. Despite this, Tara helped to perpetuate the program’s reputation of developing extremely successful student-athletes out of walk-ons under current head coach, Matt Macedo.
Tara had a standout freshman year and quickly became an integral member of the team, in and out of the pool. In her first season, Tara swam an NCAA “B” Cut in the 100 Back, finished third and earned a MPSF First Team selection in the 100 Back, and was one-fourth of the second-place 200 Free Relay team at the MPSF Championships. She recalls, “[in my first year], I was already swimming times that I never imagined I could. There were times when I’d hit the wall and look up at the clock in disbelief that I had just done that.”
In her sophomore year, Tara once again earned third at the MPSF Championships in the 100 Back and was also the backstroker for the 200 Medley Relay team, which took first place. She swam another NCAA “B” Cut in the 100 Back, and in addition to all her accomplishments in the pool, was selected to the MPSF All-Academic team.
Throughout her junior year, Tara continued to improve, finishing second in the 100 Back at the MPSF Championships, earning another selection to the MPSF First Team, while also earning Second-Team honors in the 200 Medley Relay.
Tara ranks third all-time in the UCSB record book in the 100 Back and 10th all-time in the 200 Back. She also swam the backstroke leg for both the fourth and fifth all-time 200 Medley Relay teams and was a member of the fourth all-time 200 Free Relay squad.
Tara gives credit to her coaches for helping her succeed in the pool and in the classroom. “The coaches are really good at making sure that swimming is a priority, but not the only priority, which is a mindset that allowed me to reach goals that I didn’t think were possible,” she said.
Macedo backs this up, saying that “Tara has been an incredible addition to our program. While she has had great success in the water, it’s her positive attitude and easy going, fun-loving demeanor that the staff and team notice on a daily basis.” He continued, “She’s the ultimate team player, always one of the first to volunteer for community service events, a great recruiter and sets a fantastic example of success in the classroom for our younger athletes.”
Wilson attests, “One of the reasons I still go to practice three or four times a week is because of kids like Tara.”
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When discussing goals for her final season, Tara said, “I want to final in all my events at conference, but mostly, only having three and a half months left, I just want to enjoy everything, because once it’s over I’m never going to experience something like that again. This season is flying by, so I just want to savor all my time with my teammates and coaches.”
Another goal Tara mentioned is continuing to improve in the 100 Fly, a new event for her. “I wanted to try something different after doing the same events my first three years, so in one of our mid-season meets last year, I swam the 100 Fly after not training it for three years,” she said. “I had a pretty good time, so I talked to [Macedo] about it and he was super open to it. My Dad and brother were flyers, so I guess it’s in my genes.”
Since then, Tara has continued to swim the 100 Fly, a decision that paid off earlier this year. On Oct. 12, UCSB Swimming held its annual Alumni Meet, and Tara and Jim had the opportunity to race each other. They raced in the 50 Fly, and Wilson called the race “a crowd-pleaser”.
Tara remembers, “I always wanted to race against my Dad at the alumni meet, but my first three years he would show up without his gear because he thought I was kidding. This year I finally convinced him to bring his stuff.” She continued, “I had never raced my Dad before, and it was a pretty close race. I won by a few tenths, but he keeps claiming he slipped on the wall. It was a lot of fun and I’m happy we finally made it happen.”
“Watching the two of them race at our Alumni Meet was a special moment for our Gaucho family and something the two of them will always remember,” said Macedo.