SportsLine.com wire reports
Aug. 8, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jenny Thompson already owns five Olympic gold medals. Just not any she won on her own.

Thompson was always joined on the medal stand by her relay teammates. Her only medal in an individual event was a silver in the 100-meter freestyle in 1992.

That was supposed to change in 1996. It didn't after Thompson shockingly failed to qualify in any of her four individual events.

Four years later, she's back in the same pool to try to avenge her biggest disappointment in swimming.

Once again, she's a heavy favorite at the U.S. Olympic trials, a meet with enough pressure to rival the Sydney Games themselves. Only the top two finishers qualify for individual events.

"It's unique because it covers this one moment in time where you prove yourself. It's such a do-or-die situation," she said. "First and second are equal in my mind, but if you're third it's just as good as last."

At 27, Thompson has spent virtually half her life on the U.S. national team. Her 14 years are the most by any swimmer.

"It's pretty unique that I haven't experienced the kind of burnout a lot of people feel," she said. "I've been fortunate I haven't had a lot of external pressure that caused me to burn out, like parents or coaches. I always have been encouraged and inspired by my surroundings."

Thompson came closest to retiring after the debacle of '96.

"All that changed when I felt I hadn't done what I needed to do," she said.

She arrived in Indianapolis hyped as the next big Olympic swimming star. But Thompson's freefall began as soon as she dived into the pool.

She finished third in her opening event, the 100 free, where she once held the world record. That result shocked her to the point where she never recovered the rest of the meet.

She was fourth in the 100 butterfly, where she was the top seed; third in the 50 free; and seventh in the 200 free. She only made it to the Atlanta Games on the 400 free and 800 free relays.

Troubled by insomnia before the trials, Thompson couldn't sleep during the meet. She went on a crying jag that lasted all week.

This time, she says she's sleeping just fine, thank you.

"Four years ago is the past," she said. "It's not really an issue now."

Thompson's recent results back her up and prove she's still a dominant sprinter.

Last year, Thompson broke Mary T. Meagher's 18-year-old world record in the 100 fly -- the oldest mark on the books. She broke world records in the 50 and 100 flys earlier this year, and last month, she lowered her own 8-year-old American record in the 100 free at a meet in Los Angeles.

"To swim really well and get best times in eight years was really encouraging," she said. "I feel like that's something to build on. I'm going to go pretty fast here."

Thompson plans to swim the same events she did at the '96 trials -- the 100 fly, 100 free, 50 free and possibly the 200 free.

She'll be cheered on by her parents, who divorced when she was a toddler. Thompson's mother, Margrid, raised three boys and Jenny on her own in Dover, N.H.

"I got inner strength and knowing I can do something on my own," she said of her mother's influence. "I know I can get help from other people, but also know inside I have the ability to do it myself."

Whether or not Thompson makes it to Sydney and succeeds at her winning an individual gold medal, she'll move on with her life. She plans to attend Columbia University Medical School in 2001 and buy a house in her hometown in order to be near her mother again.

But first she has got to get through the next eight days. This time, Thompson may do it with a smile on her face.

"It's about a personal pursuit to see how far I can go with my goals," she said. "I'm focused and I have a mission, but also it's fun for me."

AP NEWS
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