Former ice dancing partner remembers Officer Swasey as “selfless”

Before Officer Garrett Swasey was a police officer, he was an ice dancer.

And his former ice dancing partner, Christine Fowler-Binder, credits the fallen officer for their championship win.

“Garret..is…was the most selfless person I knew. Always there as my confidante, my brother,” Fowler-Binder said.

Fowler-Binder remembered Swasey as the kind of guy who could always turn her day around and put a smile on her face.

“The year before, we were dead last at nationals. Garrett put his arm around me and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be on the top.’ And then we were. It was pretty amazing,” she said.

She said he used that same encouragement as a father of two young children.

“They were an amazing family. They were very, very close,” she remembered. “He was such a good dad.”

And he was a good son.

His mother, still grieving, didn’t want to talk yet. But she did want Fowler-Binder to pass along a message.

“She wanted me to remind everyone that Garrett died in the line of duty protecting everyone in our country and there is no time when he would ever have not done that,” Fowler-Binder said. “He is just a selfless individual.”

It was the way he lived his life — giving it his all, whether protecting others or performing on the ice.

“I can’t think of another person more, who believes in right and wrong, and who’s there to serve and protect as he was with me on the ice everyday,” Fowler-Binder said.

Governor Hickenlooper ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff in remembrance of all the victims of the shooting.