Midland native Natalie Hinds will return to Texas with a bronze medal, one of four athletes to take third place for the U.S. in the women's 1x400-meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics.
Although she has been a competitive swimmer for Midland High School and the University of Florida, and participated in the 2016 Olympic trials, this was Hinds' first Olympics.
“I was crying, but no one could see because we have to wear those huge masks on our face. So, I just remember holding my medal, and I closed my eyes to try to get a snapshot of the moment because it was so beautiful,” Hinds said on 11alive.
Hinds’ parents watched their daughter put on the fire during the competition, alongside her American teammates Erika Brown, Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel. They couldn’t be in Tokyo because of COVID-19 restrictions, so they saw her from a watch party at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.
“Almost in disbelief that she had pulled them into a position to where they almost got the silver and definitely got the bronze,” Claudia Hinds, Natalie’s mother, told the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “The way she swam is what really got me. She just really pulled them out of the fire from fourth to third, and [Manuel] was able to take them a little bit further so they could medal. We were just jumping around like fools.”
Team U.S.A. took the bronze with a time of 3 minutes, 32.81 seconds in the final.
Hinds' accomplishment garnered attention from state politicians.
"Midland proud! Midland’s own Natalie Hinds won the bronze medal along with her teammates in the 400 freestyle relay," State Sen. Kel Seliger said in a tweet.
The bronze medal finish essentially capped a comeback story for Hinds, who stepped away from the pool following a disheartening finish in the 2016 Rio Olympic trials. She moved to Atlanta to work for Turner Media. After two years she felt a yearning to return to swimming. She contacted the University of Georgia and began training with them in 2018.
“I’m so happy that I was able to come out of the Olympics with a medal,” Hinds told 11alive. “Yes, it’s so beautiful and so heavy as well."
During the preliminaries, the United States placed fifth behind Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, and Great Britain. Hinds anchored the Americans in that race and recorded the fastest time on the team at 53.28, Your Basin reported.
“It is kind of just a shock, you were chasing something, and then you finally attained it,” she told 11alive.