Athlete Spotlight: Charisma Watkins

By Autumn McPherson

Photo by Autumn McPherson

According to her teammates, Charisma Watkins, who goes by “Rizz,” is a freshman who participates in the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 100 and 200 breaststroke events for the Nanooks swim team. 

 When asked how she began her swimming career, Watkins stated, “I’m from a commercial fishing family, so I was out on boats from a young age. When I was around six, my mom wanted to put me in swimming lessons in case we fell off the boat. I’ve been swimming for 13 years now.”

When asked why she chose UAF, Wakins said, “ I chose UAF because it was closest to home and had a good swim team.” 

During the last two home meets of the season, held on January 17th and 18th, Watkins received third place in the 200 IM with a 2:20.99 time and fourth place in the 400 IM with a 5:04.13 time.