Day in the life

From the crack of dawn to lights out, there's more to the daily grind of this Olympic veteran than just swimming laps.

In 1990, Jenny Thompson was a member of a promising group of young American swimmers tagged the New Kids on the Block. Nine years later, the other kids -- including Olympic gold medalists Nicole Haislett and Summer Sanders -- have hung up their Speedos and moved on to drier pursuits. Thompson, not content to retire with her six Olympic medals (five gold, one silver from the '92 and '96 Games), is still in the water. Even though she's now competing against a new generation of swimmers, notably 21-year-old Brit Susan Rolph, she's not only winning, but she's also getting faster. In December '98 and January '99 she smashed three world records and two American records.

At 26 -- an age that, according to Stanford Cardinal coach Richard Quick, puts her at the "elder statesman end" of the swimmer continuum -- Thompson is intent on making the U.S. Olympic team for the 2000 Games. After she graduated from Stanford with a degree in human biology in 1995, she continued to train in Palo Alto with Quick and the Cardinal women's swim team. She maintains a grueling training and travel schedule (she estimates that she's on the road 100 days a year), all while preparing to enter medical school in 2001.

If she makes it to Sydney, will the 2000 Games be her last? Thompson isn't saying. She was ready to retire after the '96 Games in Atlanta -- until she watched other swimmers turning in times she knew she could beat. She does admit, though, that the perfect end to her career would be an Olympic gold medal and world record in the 100-meter butterfly. That's not only her favorite event, it's also the most hallowed record in swimming: Mary T. Meagher's world record, 59.26 seconds, has stood since the 1984 Olympics.

"I'm a tough competitor and I want to win," Thompson says, "and since I'm doing so well, why stop?"

 
A Day in the Life archive

Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated. An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.