C.R. cop changing her game for 'Survivor: Game Changers'

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids police investigator Sarah Lacina was strong before entering 'Survivor.' She's even stronger for having played the popular TV test of physical, psychological and social endurance — twice.

Lacina, 32, of Marion, placed 11 out of 18 in 'Survivor: Cagayan,' recorded in the Philippines in the summer of 2013. Armed with the knowledge and know-how she learned the first time, she was invited back for another try in Season 34, which airs 7 p.m. each Wednesday on CBS. She survived in Wednesday night's episode.

Contestants go into the 39-day Robinson Crusoe-style odyssey with just the clothes on their backs. No toiletries, no electronics, no tools — not a single luxury. Just an eye on the million-dollar prize — and priceless life lessons gleaned through team competitions that end with at least one person being voted off the island in each episode.

'Mentally, I'm stronger than I thought I was,' said Lacina, who has become a mom since her first 'Survivor' competition. 'To be away from your family, from your 2 1/2-year-old for that long, takes a strong person, because at any point in time we can quit, and we know that. But to tell yourself, 'No, I can do this,' you realize, 'Hey, I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was.''

All the contestants on 'Survivor: Game Changers' have played the game before. And even though the sun has set on their remote island days, nobody knows who won — not even the contestants — so Lacina is watching like everybody else.

Well, not quite like everybody else.

A friend threw her a watch party for the March 8 two-hour season premiere. Now she's viewing intently at home.

'I really like to watch what's going on and rewind when a commercial's going on — to see who said what, to see if you can pick up on things,' she said. 'I really dissect each episode.'

She warns viewers not to judge too harshly over the decision to catch and eat a goat in the March 15 episode.

'You're watching with a full belly,' she said. The contestants are constantly hungry. 'We'd catch a fish 5 inches long and suck on the bones to get every chunk of meat.'

Her profession prepared her well for the competition's mind games.

'When you interview somebody to get their side of a story, you as an investigator or police officer are trying to determine who's telling the truth, based on the evidence,' she said. 'Following up to decide who's guilty applies directly to 'Survivor.' You can sit there and someone tells you something, then you go do your fact-checking and you follow up.'

That attention to detail gives her a leg up on the competition.

However, she said playing 'good cop' didn't serve her well in her rookie season, so she decided to adopt more of a 'bad cop' attitude for the scheming that goes with winning enough trust to stay afloat in the game.

That was a tough lesson for someone used to being true to her word.

'When I got back after the first time, my co-workers were like, 'Why didn't you just lie?' I was afraid I would dishonor our profession as a police officer,' she said. 'Everybody else realized I was playing a game but me. This isn't real life. It doesn't reflect on who you are.'

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