Remembering the first victim in the blockbuster 'Jaws'
A former high school swimming champ stole the show in the iconic opening scene
IN THE SUMMER OF 1975, Lana Watson and her husband, John, were among the millions packing cinemas around North America to see “Jaws,” a blockbuster about a killer shark that terrorizes a fictional seaside town.
Two minutes into the movie, Lana thought she recognized an old friend up on the big screen — the flirtatious hippie chick at the beach campfire who takes a fateful skinny dip in the ocean.
As the unseen great white closes in (dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun), something else about the scene startled Lana — the way the doomed swimmer casually cut through the water, the same distinctive strokes used a decade earlier by one of Lana’s fellow teenage Swimming Association of the Palm Beaches swimmers.
“I grabbed my husband’s arm and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s Susie!’’’
Susan Myers, Forest Hill High School Class of 1964, was a nationally ranked swimmer who set records and qualified, friends say, for the Tokyo Olympics as an alternate (a spot she gave up after contracting mononucleosis).
Her swimming chops helped her score a role in one of the most iconic opening movie scenes. Released 50 years ago, ‘Jaws’ would go on to become a thriller classic.
For some West Palm Beachers, it remains a strange portal into the past, bringing back fond memories of the actress playing the doomed “Chrissie.”