Captain ComebackOn a night filled with redemption, Elder statesman Jeff Rouse led another U.S. Gold Medal rush in swimmingby Tim Layden
At the beginning, before he stripped off his warmups and dipped one hand into the pale blue water of the pool at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center last night, Jeff Rouse located his family and friends and locked his eyes with them. Four years had passed since that July night in Barcelona when Rouse, the best 100-meter backstroker in the world, was upset by Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian who swam the race of his life and stole the gold. A reputation grew from that race, the way athletic reputations can. "People said Jeff couldn't win the big race," said U.S. teammate Tripp Schwenk.
Rouse looked to family and friends for peace of mind before launching himself into the 100 backstroke.
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Rouse was favored again last night, and so he found strength in the familiar faces that were watching him from above the pool deck. "I smiled when I saw them," he said later, "because I knew they would love and support me no matter what happened." The moment, so close to the start of his race, gave him peace. Because as Schwenk said, "This was a big race."
Olympic events are often made into once-in-a-lifetime epics, opportunities that once lost can never be recaptured. However, the lesson delivered last night was that the Games can be more generous with second chances than they are with first ones. The U.S. swim team won three more gold medals—running its totals in these Games to seven gold and 17 overall—and each of them was a small piece of redemption.
First there was Rouse. Then there was Amy Van Dyken, who won the women's 100 butterfly three days after finishing fourth in the 100 freestyle, racked with cramps and hyperventilating. Finally there was Gary Hall Jr., the brilliant and iconoclastic sprinter who one night after finishing second to Aleksandr Popov of Russia in the 100 freestyle, swam the fastest 100 split in history, anchoring the U.S. men's 4¥100 freestyle relay to a gold medal in an Olympic record time of 3:15.41.
The message that summarizes all three accomplishments comes from Rouse, a U.S. men's team captain and at 26 the third-oldest member of the squad. His loss to Tewksbury was devastating, one of the biggest upsets at the '92 Games. He reversed that defeat with emphasis, hitting the wall nearly a body length in front of Roldolfo Falcon Cabrera of Cuba. Rouse's time of 54.10 was only .24 of a second off his world record. And in the mad aftermath of the race, Rouse found himself talking to none other than Tewksbury, who is working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
After touching the pad first in
the 100 butterfly, Van Dyken touched off her own celebration.
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"I actually thanked him," said Rouse. "I wouldn't have done this tonight if it wasn't for him. In '92 Mark had a great swim. I just got beat. I've learned so much in the last four years. You take any successful person—people in business, athletes, doctors—they don't get to where they are without failing once."
It would be wrong to say that Van Dyken failed in her earlier race, but surely she understood what Rouse was feeling. She got her first chance at redemption on Monday night, when she swam on the gold-medal-winning 4¥100 freestyle relay.
But there was still a hole in her résumé from these Games. Her disappointing finish in the 100 free had come after she talked of fighting the Chinese women with prerace intimidation. But while teammate Angel Martino won a bronze in that race, Van Dyken collapsed with severe cramps. "In the 100 free I was very nervous," she said last night. "This is like the Super Bowl, and I've just been really overanxious."
She excelled last night in the tightest races of the swimming finals to date, touching in 59.13, .01 in front of Liu Limin of China. "I had no idea where I was in the race," Van Dyken said. She wheeled from the touch pad at the end of her lane, trained her eyes on the huge scoreboard at the opposite end of the pool and then opened her mouth in shock and celebration. Martino was third, just .10 behind Van Dyken in winning her second individual bronze to go with one relay gold.
The single most arresting moment of the night belonged to Hall, who had been gracious in losing to Popov, now a two-time gold medalist in the 100 free. But as the outcome of the race seeped into Hall's psyche—he lost by only .07—it nagged at him. "I was a little disappointed," Hall said. "I thought I could have done better. I woke up this morning and I thought about the relay. This was my chance to redeem myself."
There would be no head-to-head rematch with Popov, who swims the second leg. But on his leg Popov pushed Russia into the lead with a searing 47.88 split (the world record for the open 100 is Popov's 48.21). After legs by Jon Olsen, Josh Davis and Bradley Schumacher, the U.S. was in third place, trailing first-place Russia by .62. But Hall roared into the lead in less than 20 meters and smoked Russian anchor Vladimir Pyshnenko. His 47.45 time shattered the previous mark for a freestyle relay split of 47.66, set by Matt Biondi in 1985. Next up for Hall is a rematch tomorrow night with Popov in the 50 free.
There was one other U.S. gold medal hopeful last night, 14-year-old breaststroker Amanda Beard. On Sunday she had won a silver medal in the 100 breast, closing on and nearly touching ahead of Penelope Heyns of South Africa. Last night's 200 breaststroke was a copy of that race as Beard made up almost a full body length in the final 50 meters. She lost by .30. "I'd like it if Amanda and I could go out and party together," Heyns, 21, said last night as the two sat at a postrace press conference. "But my feeling is you're too young."
Two silvers is a heavy haul for such a youngster, but Beard is chasing more. "She's given me a goal," she said. "Now I'll go after her."
And if Beard was watching closely last night, she knows that there can be another race, even another Olympics.
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SI Olympic Dailies
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