Wednesday, July 7, 2004

A Tale of Two Distance Swimming Queens

I'll have more on John Edwards later. But right now I'd like to visit another topic dear to my heart - Olympic swimming! :-)
As you can gather from past posts, I have long been a fan of American Olympic swimmer Janet Evans. Since she retired in 1996, though, Brooke Bennett, another American, has established herself as this country's reigning female distance swimming champion. I never liked Bennett; not only was she famous for boasting too much about herself, she has had a rather - how shall I put it? - tense relationship with Evans. It was Evans who inspired Bennett to become a competitive swimmer, yet when the two champions starting competing against each other, Bennett started picking on her onetime idol, making fun of her after regularly defeating her in meet after meet. When Bennett broke Evans's old Olympic record in the 800-meter women's freestyle race st the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, I literally wanted to throw up.  I always thought she was a little twerp.
As the swimming trials for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team prepare to get underway, though, I'm happy to announce that I am no longer mad at Brooke Bennett. Why? Because Janet Evans is no longer holding Bennett's old behavior against her - and, she's rooting for her to make the Olympic team and go for the gold. And besides, Bennett is nothing if not dedicated. She's had shoulder surgery, yet she remains focused on her swimming career, and she's matured greatly. She is less scrappy and more reflective on what it takes to be a champion. I certainly wish Bennett well as she prepares to make some swimming history of her own.
Actually, I was getting tired of holding that grudge . . .

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