Always at home helping out near the water

Look closely at the swim coach giving kids diving tips at the West Cabarrus YMCA. Each shriveled, pruny finger on Kari Lawrence's hands was earned from hours spent in the water.

Not all of that time has been spent teaching two-legged pupils in goggles and swimsuits, as she does now in the YMCA pool as an instructor for Swim Mac.

Go back eight years, and you'll find Lawrence in the pool with 1,000-pound manatees, whiskery sea lions and grinning dolphins.

A sip of water was never enough for the 28-year-old New Jersey native. And the animals who were submerged in it were the lucky ones.

"I've always had a fascination with animals and water," Lawrence said.

As a child, yearly trips to visit her grandparents in Florida always included a much-anticipated trip to Sea World.

"I could spend all day there," she said.

Helping the injured

After Lawrence graduated from the University of Tampa with dual majors in marine biology and science, she found work at a Tampa manatee rehabilitation center, rescuing the giant creatures along with sea lions, dolphins and any other animals injured in the ocean, often from boat strikes.

From there, an internship at the Oahu Sea Life Park in Hawaii turned into a three-year job training penguins, sea lions and dolphins.

Not many can claim walking a waddle of Humboldt penguins through the park as a daily job requirement. Visitors would often see Lawrence leading several of the tottering animals, keeping them focused as they took in some exercise.

"Their attention span is very short," she said.

Much of her time was spent with the dolphins, training them to perform a skit in which pirates try to steal treasure, only to be foiled by the flippered heroes.

Lawrence says dolphins and humans are alike in the fact that no two are the same.

"Once you get to know them, it's like seeing a friend on the street," she said. "They are completely different."

Her closest dolphin friend, Laka, for example, had a double chin.

Training dolphins

Boredom can settle in quickly with both species as well. Besides herring and squid, dolphins would get other rewards for learning their lessons and staying on task.

"Some dolphins had their favorite toys," she said. "They would take their toy and go off and play."

Lawrence moved back to the mainland in 2006 after years of missing her family, some of whom have since settled in Charlotte.

"Too many Christmases by myself," she said.

Here, she once again immersed herself in water, teaching lessons, coaching teams and running swim clinics for kids under 12.

On the weekends, swim meets keep her in the water for up to eight hours each day.

The sea lions learned best with vocal cues. The dolphins responded to visual cues. Humans are like both, with maybe a little penguin in them, too.

Lawrence loves the return to teaching her own kind, but still makes time to return to Hawaii every two years for visits with her old pals.

"I still talk to the penguins and see if they remember me."

As they take a stroll down memory lane, she thinks they still do.