University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Maxine Parker
January 27, 2021 | Swimming & Diving, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Maxine Parker comes from a very athletic and competitive family. Her mom, Heather, played college basketball at Northwestern, and her father, Michael, played lacrosse and basketball at the Division III level.
A freshman from Bannockburn, Ill., though she's lived in a lot of different places, Parker has settled in quite well at Georgia. She was named SEC Women's Freshman of the Week back in November, and she's already posted multiple first- and second-place finishes in 50 and 100 freestyle races.
During a recent Quick Chat, Parker talked about her start in swimming, her love of frozen strawberries, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When did you first get into swimming, and when did it become something you took really seriously?
Parker: I started swimming on a team when I was 5, I think. My older sister had been a swimmer before me so I joined because she was doing it. It became my main sport when I was 10, I would say. I stopped playing other sports and it was my main focus.
Frierson: I know your parents were both college athletes, so were sports and competition a mainstay in the Parker household growing up?
Parker: We were definitely always doing sports. I would say it was fairly competitive between me and my sister when we younger; it never caused any issues, and we didn't swim the same events, but we always pushed it each. It was a good relationship for swimming.
Frierson: Were there family basketball games in the driveway or anything like that?
Parker: Oh, no. I was not athletic in that way. I definitely was not coordinated and basketball wasn't for me.
Frierson: When did you know you were good at swimming, good enough to be here one day? Was there a turning point or specific moment?
Parker: I never really had anything like that. I feel like it was very gradual, so there wasn't a time when I really turned a corner or had a breakout year that I can remember.
Frierson: What comes to mind when you think of home?
Parker: Honestly, that's a very weird question for me because I moved around a lot when I was younger. When I think of home, I don't really think of a place I just kind of think of my family.
Frierson: Of all the places you've lived, is there one that you think back on most fondly or is a place you could return to one day?
Parker: I think Illinois the most as home. My parents were both from Illinois, so we have the most ties there, but I would really like to live in Connecticut. That's probably one of my favorite places that we've lived, and I just really like the vibes out there.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Parker: Frozen strawberries. I probably eat a bowl of frozen strawberries every day.
Frierson: Is that not hard on your teeth?
Parker: You let them thaw a little first and then it's kind of like popsicles, but it's frozen strawberries. I mean, they're really good. You know frozen strawberries, they're frozen when they're supposed to be at peak ripeness. If you get the regular not-frozen strawberries, and they were picked before they were ripe because they have to get to you, so I think the frozen ones are better. They taste better to me.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience what it's like, what would it be?
Parker: Honestly, I would like to be great at diving. It's so interesting how their sport has so much finesse, and I would like to know how it feels to do that many flips in the air. My roommate Meghan (Georgia diver Meghan Wenzel), she always talks about how hard it is when you enter the water, and I'd like to feel that. I'd like to know what she goes through.
Frierson: Have you ever gone off the 10-meter platform? Would you ever dive off of it?
Parker: I think that I have a mild fear of heights, so I'll jump off the middle tower but I don't think I could jump off the high one. And I don't think that it would be smart for me to, because I don't think I would land on my feet and I think I would probably hurt myself.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you like to go?
Parker: I would love to go to Dubai. I've read up a little about it and I feel like it would be a very interesting place to travel to.
Frierson: Are you longing for those kinds of experiences, getting out and exploring new or different places again?
Parker: Yeah, I would absolutely love to travel overseas. And I want to change my answer to the previous question — I really want to travel to South Korea. I love Korean food and, honestly, any Asian country. I'm super interested in the cultures and I love, love Korean food, Thai food, Chinese food, everything, oh, my goodness.
Frierson: When you're swimming at practice and having to grind through all of those laps, are you thinking of food?
Parker: You know what, occasionally. After practice, sometimes we'll drive and go get Chick-fil-A or something like that, so I'm always looking forward to a frosted coffee from Chick-fil-A. I honestly don't really know what I think about, but if I have something that I want to eat I'll usually tell people what to eat.
Recently, I've been asking about crepes a lot, and Belgian waffles.
Frierson: Do you cook much?
Parker: I would like to. I wish we had more kitchen availability in the dorms, but usually at home I cook more of my food.
Frierson: When you have so many new teammates between the women's and men's teams, how hard is it to get to know all of these new people in your life?
Parker: You know, it hasn't been hard at all. I had gotten to know them a good amount before I came here and they've been really good about welcoming everyone. Even though we can't hang out the way we normally would, they've made sure that me and the other freshmen have felt welcomed and had things to do. It hasn't been as hard as you would think.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Maxine Parker comes from a very athletic and competitive family. Her mom, Heather, played college basketball at Northwestern, and her father, Michael, played lacrosse and basketball at the Division III level.
A freshman from Bannockburn, Ill., though she's lived in a lot of different places, Parker has settled in quite well at Georgia. She was named SEC Women's Freshman of the Week back in November, and she's already posted multiple first- and second-place finishes in 50 and 100 freestyle races.
During a recent Quick Chat, Parker talked about her start in swimming, her love of frozen strawberries, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When did you first get into swimming, and when did it become something you took really seriously?
Parker: I started swimming on a team when I was 5, I think. My older sister had been a swimmer before me so I joined because she was doing it. It became my main sport when I was 10, I would say. I stopped playing other sports and it was my main focus.
Frierson: I know your parents were both college athletes, so were sports and competition a mainstay in the Parker household growing up?
Parker: We were definitely always doing sports. I would say it was fairly competitive between me and my sister when we younger; it never caused any issues, and we didn't swim the same events, but we always pushed it each. It was a good relationship for swimming.
Frierson: Were there family basketball games in the driveway or anything like that?
Parker: Oh, no. I was not athletic in that way. I definitely was not coordinated and basketball wasn't for me.
Frierson: When did you know you were good at swimming, good enough to be here one day? Was there a turning point or specific moment?
Parker: I never really had anything like that. I feel like it was very gradual, so there wasn't a time when I really turned a corner or had a breakout year that I can remember.
Frierson: What comes to mind when you think of home?
Parker: Honestly, that's a very weird question for me because I moved around a lot when I was younger. When I think of home, I don't really think of a place I just kind of think of my family.
Frierson: Of all the places you've lived, is there one that you think back on most fondly or is a place you could return to one day?
Parker: I think Illinois the most as home. My parents were both from Illinois, so we have the most ties there, but I would really like to live in Connecticut. That's probably one of my favorite places that we've lived, and I just really like the vibes out there.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Parker: Frozen strawberries. I probably eat a bowl of frozen strawberries every day.
Frierson: Is that not hard on your teeth?
Parker: You let them thaw a little first and then it's kind of like popsicles, but it's frozen strawberries. I mean, they're really good. You know frozen strawberries, they're frozen when they're supposed to be at peak ripeness. If you get the regular not-frozen strawberries, and they were picked before they were ripe because they have to get to you, so I think the frozen ones are better. They taste better to me.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience what it's like, what would it be?
Parker: Honestly, I would like to be great at diving. It's so interesting how their sport has so much finesse, and I would like to know how it feels to do that many flips in the air. My roommate Meghan (Georgia diver Meghan Wenzel), she always talks about how hard it is when you enter the water, and I'd like to feel that. I'd like to know what she goes through.
Frierson: Have you ever gone off the 10-meter platform? Would you ever dive off of it?
Parker: I think that I have a mild fear of heights, so I'll jump off the middle tower but I don't think I could jump off the high one. And I don't think that it would be smart for me to, because I don't think I would land on my feet and I think I would probably hurt myself.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you like to go?
Parker: I would love to go to Dubai. I've read up a little about it and I feel like it would be a very interesting place to travel to.
Frierson: Are you longing for those kinds of experiences, getting out and exploring new or different places again?
Parker: Yeah, I would absolutely love to travel overseas. And I want to change my answer to the previous question — I really want to travel to South Korea. I love Korean food and, honestly, any Asian country. I'm super interested in the cultures and I love, love Korean food, Thai food, Chinese food, everything, oh, my goodness.
Frierson: When you're swimming at practice and having to grind through all of those laps, are you thinking of food?
Parker: You know what, occasionally. After practice, sometimes we'll drive and go get Chick-fil-A or something like that, so I'm always looking forward to a frosted coffee from Chick-fil-A. I honestly don't really know what I think about, but if I have something that I want to eat I'll usually tell people what to eat.
Recently, I've been asking about crepes a lot, and Belgian waffles.
Frierson: Do you cook much?
Parker: I would like to. I wish we had more kitchen availability in the dorms, but usually at home I cook more of my food.
Frierson: When you have so many new teammates between the women's and men's teams, how hard is it to get to know all of these new people in your life?
Parker: You know, it hasn't been hard at all. I had gotten to know them a good amount before I came here and they've been really good about welcoming everyone. Even though we can't hang out the way we normally would, they've made sure that me and the other freshmen have felt welcomed and had things to do. It hasn't been as hard as you would think.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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