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Hall fights his way back
INDIANAPOLIS -- Now that his son has overcome diabetes to make the U.S. Olympic team in the 100-meter freestyle, Gary Hall Sr. could use a good finishing kick, the kind that can get him flight reservations, event tickets and housing for the Sydney Games next month. "I was too superstitious to make plans," said the elder Hall, the U.S. flagbearer at the 1976 Montreal Games, as he waited for Gary Jr. to finish his drug-testing session Sunday night. "A month ago Gary wasn't even going to swim the 100. You have no idea how hard it's been for him after the health problems started. I'd have been satisfied if he was in the hunt in the 50." Minutes later the Halls embraced in a hallway of the IUPUI Natatorium. "That was so great," Senior said. "But it was pretty painful," Junior answered. Before the evening's competition began, Gary Sr. spoke to the crowd from a raised platform, telling fans, "I hope you will forgive me for being nervous. It's not about giving this speech. It's about being a swim parent." Hall told the story of Doc Councilman, the U.S. coach in Montreal who would rally his swimmers before each evening's races. Councilman would huddle his team together for reflective moments of thought and prayer. "Then instead of leaving," Hall said, "we went to a closet and Doc would take out a large American flag and a broom." Each day one swimmer would take turns holding the flag while another held the broom. "Then," Hall explained, "we would all say it together: Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" Medal sweeps were possible in those days when teams were allowed to place three swimmers in individual events instead of two. In 13 races, U.S. swimmers swept four events, finished first and second in nine of them and won gold in 12, setting 11 world records. Gary Sr. then closed the evening's introductions by leading the 4,500 spectators in a chant of "USA! USA!" Australian journalists in attendance politely looked at each other and shook their heads. Asked later about his dad's speech, Gary Jr. joked: "Was that him talking out there, going on, rambling? C'mon, start the meet already." Watching Junior over the years, you see how Senior's rah-rah approach to the sport has been passed on. In 1996 Gary Jr. strutted onto the pool deck in Atlanta before his anticipated races with Russian star Alexander Popov and started shadowboxing during the introductions. Popov then dusted Hall in both the 50 and 100 freestyles, leaving Hall with two silver medals. Hall gained marginal revenge when the U.S. outswam Russia in both the 4x100 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay. Before his semifinal heat here in Indianapolis, Hall made a Charles Atlas pose and then kissed each of his biceps. Before the final, Hall took off his black-hooded robe to reveal a pair of red, white and blue boxing trunks. He then went into a shadowboxing routine, as he had four years earlier before his confrontation with Popov. Hall later explained that he had helped himself to the shorts at a fundraiser Muhammad Ali held earlier this year for Parkinson's research. "I wasn't supposed to keep 'em," Hall confessed, "but I sort of walked out of the building with them on. I waited for a special occasion to bring them out." Jason Lezak was one of Hall's rivals who took note of his theatrics in both the semifinal and final. "I didn't see him next to me, but I saw him on the big video screen," said Lezak, who placed fourth in the final and will join Hall on the freestyle relay. "I had to stop myself from busting out laughing. I don't know what he's thinking; he's not that big. But he keeps the sport interesting. That's what people want to see." There were times in the last four years when it seemed unlikely anyone would see Hall at the meet. He had trouble maintaining his interest in swimming, especially in training. He served a three-month suspension, starting in May 1998, after testing positive for marijuana. In March 1999 he was diagnosed with diabetes. Not only did he have to remove starches, including swimmer-friendly foods such as pasta and rice, from his diet, he also had give himself as many as eight injections of insulin each day, often minutes before jumping in the pool. Hall can tell you that 162,000 people die from diabetes each year, more than from AIDS and breast cancer combined. For the free spirit who once worried only about shaving 100ths of seconds off his swim times, those numbers have been sobering. "I like thinking I'm invincible," he says. "It makes me swim faster. But it's hard to think that way when you know it can all be taken away from you." A month ago Hall hadn't swum a 100-meter free race in nearly two years and was thinking only of Tuesday's 50 free final. He earned his qualifying time for the 100 at the Janet Evans Invitational three weeks before the trials. Yet Hall was clearly ready, always keeping within half a body length of Neil Walker, who set a blistering pace and held on to win the race in 48.71 seconds. Hall touched second in 48.84. Unlike Tom Dolan, who saved his boxing antics for a few delirious swings at the water after winning the 400 IM earlier in the week, Hall was fairly subdued after touching the wall. "I'm stoked," Hall said. "But, damn, this was hard." This is the new Gary Hall Jr., still working the crowd, but he's not nearly as in-your-face as the old Hall. At 26 he is more mature than the swimmer who once dyed his hair purple and wore a black armband in honor of Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia. "My past is interesting," he said, "but life makes you grow up and think about the future." Better get those plane tickets, Pop.
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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