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1973-
Five-time Olympic gold medalist

Thompson has made quite a splash as a record-breaker.  Heinz Kluetmeier

Thompson's swimming career has been a bit like a flume ride: lots of up and downs, with the occasional huge splash. She emerged on the international swimming scene in 1990 as one of the "New Kids on the Block", a group of young, Olympic hopefuls which included Nicole Haislett and Summer Sanders. Thompson's first triumph came at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials where she set the world record in the 100 freestyle. Favored to bring home five gold medals from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Thompson won just two relay golds and a silver in the 100 free. Rather than giving up, she used her disappointment to fuel her training. The next year Thompson won five U.S. titles, five NCAA titles and six gold medals at the Pan Pacific Games. The 1994 World Championships, however, proved to be another letdown, as were the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where she failed to qualify for the U.S. team in a single individual event but added three more relay golds to her collection. Thompson achieved some measure of redemption in 1998 when she finally broke through at a world championships, winning two individual (100 free and 100 fly) and two relay golds. In 1999, over a six-week period, Thompson broke world or American records in five short-course events. In August of that same year, she broke Mary T. Meagher's 18-year-old world record in the 100-meter butterfly event at the Pan Pacific Championships. Thompson clocked 57.88 seconds to lower the mark of 57.93 set by Meagher in 1981. A Stanford grad, the 26-year-old Thompson continues to dominate her sport at an age when most swimmers are washed up and hopes to finally win an individual Olympic gold medal in 2000.

They said it: "I didn't think I'd swim beyond 1996. It seems that the years come and go and I'm still swimming. I had a lot of fun with the New Kid girls. I'm sad that I'm the last one." --Thompson

--Susan Brody

Athletes were selected by Sports Illustrated For Women, Sports Illustrated and CNN/SI editors, writers and correspondents who considered the athletes' on-field performance and achievements, plus their contributions to women's sports. Because athletic achievement was a key criterion, women whose contributions were made solely in administration and coaching are not included.

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