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Bedford is swimming's sitcom star
INDIANAPOLIS -- Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The B.J. Bedford Show. Ms. Bedford, the newest U.S. Olympic team member, is a quote machine in the vein of former major league manager Casey Stengel and former NBA player Jayson Williams. First, her story: Bedford, 27, has amassed 13 medals in international competitions, which includes World Championships, Pan-Am Games, Pan Pacific Championships, World University Games and Goodwill Games. But she had fallen short of making the Olympic team at three straight U.S. trials, placing third in the 100-meter backstroke in '96. With her mother watching at home for fear of jinxing her jittery daughter, Bedford, who learned to swim as a one-year-old in her family's backyard pool in Etna, N.H., won the 100 back Friday night in 1:01.85. Her fiancé, Tom Sorenson, a 1996 Olympic volleyball player who recently was cut from this year's team, was at the pool. Bedford has been disciplined by national team coaches for missing curfew, among other things. The day she won a bronze medal in the 100 back at the '94 Worlds in Rome, she was zapped for going out late for ice cream and dropped from the 4x100 medley relay that later won a gold medal. She replaced what she called "my seriously butch" haircut at the last trials by going bald to reduce drag on her head. After failing to make the '96 team, she began working as a bartender in Austin, Texas. When a fellow bartender turned one of the bar's television sets to NBC's coverage of swimming during the Olympics, Bedford recalls flicking an ice cube at the set and telling him to "get that crap off the TV." In October 1996 she joined the national resident team in Colorado Springs, where she first met Sorenson, but she had to leave that program, too. She is a notorious pre-race worrier. Now, back to our show:
Krayzelburg's record attempt stymiedBackstroke king Lenny Krayzelburg may be the only swimmer with standards so high he could actually be disappointed after winning a race. Krayzelburg was within a few strokes of breaking his own world record of 53.60 in the 100 back when he reached for the wall prematurely, clipped the lane line next to him and glided into the finish in 53.84, still a full second ahead of runner-up Neil Walker. "When I dove for the wall and made my dolphin kick, the wall wasn't there yet, so I had to take one more kick," Krayzelburg said. "If I would re-swim this event, I could go faster. When you're 2/10ths away from this record, you know you're right on it."
Grombacher is the ultimate winnerThey say the last shall be first. Isaac Grombacher placed 93rd out of 93 swimmers in the 200 butterfly, clocking 2:14.40. But less than four months ago, Grombacher was paralyzed on the left side of his body following surgery to remove a brain tumor. During Grombacher's race, the public address announcer told the crowd his story, sending a cheer throughout the IUPUI Natatorium after he finished. "When I touched the wall I heard this amazing sound," Grombacher said. "It was one of the best feelings of my life."
Family ties at the poolWhen Cristina Teuscher and Dara Torres scratched out of the 200 freestyle semis, it opened up a spot for Monica Williams, daughter of Boston Red Sox manager Jimy Williams. On a night her dad's team bopped the Texas Rangers 7-3, Monica Williams swam 2:03.23, finishing 14th of the 16 swimmers to reach the semis. Teuscher had planned to scratch the event all along to swim in the semis of the 200 IM, in which she was the top seed. Torres woke up Friday morning suffering from cramps.
Brian Cazeneuve is a Sports Illustrated writer-reporter who covers the Olympics and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Sydney 2000 Mailbag.
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