ESTHER SUE WILLIAMS

“By the time I got home at night, my eyes were so chlorinated I saw rings around the lights."  Esther Williams

 

The first time I heard her name was during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. I had traveled there with my friend, a reporter for a newspaper.  There we were sitting in the arena and watching the Synchronized Swimming Event.  Two ladies were sitting a few rows below us and talking rather loudly.

 “There she is, Lois, she’s there on the end.”

“Yes!  I see her, Betty.  Yoo Hoo, Esther Sue!  Here we are. Lands, how did she ever get to be in the Olympics? That family was nothing but poor white trash!  After her mama died, that girl went to live in some houseboat in the swamps, I thought we were through seeing her mess up our beautiful bayou.”

“I know, darlin’, can you believe it?” said Betty, “Our little swamp rat in the Olympics.”

“Quiet,” said Lois, “she might hear you.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.  Nobody here will care,” Betty said under her breath.  “You know, I knew her family.  The whole bunch should have been locked up somewhere.  They were strange people.  It wasn’t normal, I tell you.”

“Well, that mama of hers was strange, since she let her practice in the bayou, I mean, who did they think they were?  Decent folks would never have allowed it.  That bayou's too pretty, we didn't need her messing up the waters.   I can’t believe she made it to the Olympics.”

“I hear that some young handsome fellow is paying her way,” said Lois.  “He was heading to Grand Isle to fish when he saw her swimmin’ in the bayou as he drove by and thought she was drownin’.  Jumped in to save her from what I heard from June over at the grocery,” she sneered.

“Imagine his embarrassment.  I’m sure he feels obligated, after all the fuss she made.”

“Maybe it’s blackmail,” they both laughed.

 My friend and I couldn’t enjoy that event past that conversation because we wanted to know more.  For one thing, we didn’t know which one was Esther Sue and furthermore we wanted to know why these ladies seemed to be here just to gossip about somebody.  Were they hoping some reporter would hear them and interview them?  And what would they say? I thought they were just nosy snobs. We wanted to know more so we moved directly behind them.

 “Excuse me ladies,” my friend said in his best reporter’s voice. “I’m from the national news.  Did I hear you talking about Esther Sue?”

 They blushed and stammered. 

 “Oh, yes,” eventually, the heavier of the two said, “We’re great friends of the family.  Good people those Williams.  They always did so much for the community.  That poor child was practicing in the bayou because her pool had some problems.  I offered to let them use our pool, but they turned it down, can you believe that?  Our pool is Olympic size with waterfalls and a slide.  It sits just behind our fifteen-room house we built last year from our inheritance.  My husband is in oil, you know. Why would she not want to swim there?  She’s ruining the neighborhood by swimming in the swamp,” blurted Lois before she realized that she was gushing and making a fool of herself.  Betty wanted to see our credentials.

 We gave each other a knowing look, smiled, and excused ourselves.  The ladies began make snide remarks about us as we returned to our seats.  My friend immediately made inquiries as to Esther Sue while continuing to watch the event.

 It seems that Esther Sue was a natural, although she apparently practiced alone every evening in the bayou.  When we interviewed her coach, he said he couldn’t believe that one who practiced alone could be in such harmony with the others. She seemed to have an innate sense of her surroundings, never missing a cue. 

 As we watched the event, these snotty ladies soon came to stand in awe of the young girl’s abilities, shouting for joy when Ester Sue’s team won the Gold Medal.

 After the ceremony, they both made a beeline to the arena to greet Esther Sue.  They kept shouting her name, "You Hoo, Esther Sue, You Hoo."   We watched with amusement as Esther Sue ignored them, pretending she had no idea who they were.

 This is the background story my friend uncovered after interviewing Esther Sue. She told him that she always loved the water.  It seemed to summon her, entice her, embrace her, baptize her in its soothing powers.  She loved to spend hours letting the tranquilizing waters cascade over her face.  It became a daily cleansing ritual to go to the water and sit half immersed.  She’d let her hand slowly sway in the stream while leaning against a rock, dreaming of being a mermaid.

 Water has been a part of her entire life.  She had been raised in a small cabin quietly tucked safely in a hidden part of the Amite River. When she was 4 months old her mother took her to the banks, placed her in a reed basket, lowered it into the water, and sometimes plunging her underneath, much to Esther Sue's delight. 

 When Esther Sue was almost five, her mother again took her to the banks of the river, tied a rope around her waist and thrust her into the current. “Swim, baby, swim,” she murmured.  “Mama won’t let anything happen to you.”  Esther Sue's smile would light up as she began swinging her arms and kicking her legs.

 That summer, Esther Sue became a proficient swimmer. The water exhilarated her.  She felt a wild abandon and a freedom in diving or floating or performing underwater acrobatics in the Amite.     

 At the age of nine they moved to bayou Lafourche.  It was here that her mother told her of her dreams, that she had always wished to be like the famed movie star, Esther Williams.  She had spent hours at the cinema to see this movie star perform acrobatics in the water.  “I even married that man John Williams, whom I didn't love, for his last name,” she said.  “And when you were born, baby, I just had to name you Esther Sue.  I always wanted you to be famous like her.  That woman changed my life.”

 As a teenager, Esther Sue became an orphan.  She began making daily pilgrimages to the water to replenish her soul. She worked as a waitress, on occasion, during the cold months and began to devote her summertime in the swamps swimming among the cypress trees.  Her mother had taught her how to raise a garden and between the food she grew and the fish she caught Esther Sue never really worried about anything else.   The people on the bayou did not like this young lady who spent her days swimming in the bayou.

 One day, Esther Sue noticed a houseboat abandoned in the swamps and began to get it back into shape. She worked months repairing boards that were rotted, painting, and sealing the outside to make it float again.   Evenings were spent sitting on the deck, fishing, or playing on a guitar. Her dream began to be complete.   Eventually she moved into the houseboat.  That’s where the gossip began.

 From that day forward, Esther Sue's entire life focused on becoming the first and foremost solo synchronized swimmer in history, practicing daily in the swamps hoping for her skill to become an Olympic sport.  She wanted to make her mama proud.

Isn’t it funny how fame makes even the worst of enemies’ best friends?  Bless Lois and Betty’s hearts.  I know it was a shock to read about Esther Sue in the papers and to hear her story on the national news.

 And bless Esther Sue’s heart, I know her mama would have been proud.

 NOTE:  For the younger generation, Esther Williams was a real person, a famous movie star who was known for her beautiful water acrobats in several movies.  This story is fictional.  I loved seeing Esther Williams in the movies. And no!  I never went to the 1988 summer Olympics.

 Nippy Blair 2015. Posts and pictures on this blog cannot be copied, downloaded, printed, or used without the permission of the blog owner, Nippy Blair.