To Thompson, Second Feels Like Winning
By LYNN ZINSER
 ONG
BEACH, Calif., July 8 - As Jenny Thompson made her way out of the pool
and around the deck at the Olympic trials Thursday night, awash in the
cheers of the crowd, she started picking out the faces of her friends
and family. Her childhood swim coach saw her and started crying. Her
current coach was full of emotion.
Thompson, though, was still
too elated at finishing second in the 100-meter butterfly to qualify
for her fourth Olympic team to start absorbing the deeper meaning of
her triumph. Later she would think about her mother, who died in
February and was always her biggest supporter. She would think about
the hard road of coming back to the top of her sport at 31 while also
attending medical school. At first, though, Thompson had only one feeling. "I was so excited," she said, beaming. "I'm sure when I get a chance to sit down later, it will be more emotional." Thompson,
the United States' most decorated female Olympian, will get a chance to
add to her collection of 10 Olympic medals, 8 of which are gold. She
has two more events in the Olympic trials, the 100 and 50 freestyles,
but this event was a true struggle, which is what made it all the more
rewarding when she broke through. "This is about enjoying the process more than I ever did before," Thompson said. "This isn't about winning a medal." Thompson
struggled in the preliminary and the semifinal rounds, qualifying only
fifth for the final. From her spot in Lane 2, she surged out to an
early lead, and at the turn she was still ahead. But halfway through the second 50 meters, the field was catching up. Rachel Komisarz, over in Lane 4, was passing her. "I
felt Rachel coming on," Thompson said. "I was just trying to get to the
wall and hoping she was the only one who went past me." Thompson
whirled around to see that she had indeed finished second to Komisarz,
58.98 seconds to 58.77, only 9-hundredths of a second ahead of the
third-place finisher, Demerae Christianson. Thompson was overcome with
relief as she accepted hugs from Komisarz. The crowd of 8,408
roared in approval, then got another treat. In the next race, it
witnessed the second world record in two nights. In the 2000 trials,
not a single world record was broken. Brendan Hansen, a
22-year-old from Havertown, Penn., helped erase the memory of finishing
third in both breaststroke events in those 2000 trials by dominating
the 100 breaststroke this time. He came off the turn on
world-record pace and never slowed, his time of 59.30 seconds topping
the record of 59.78 set by Kosuke Kitajima of Japan last July. "Everything just clicked right," Hansen said. Before
the trials, he told his University of Texas coach, Eddie Reese, exactly
what he was going to do. The plan included Hansen's times in the
preliminary and semifinal rounds, as well as becoming the first
American to break a minute in the finals. "Brendan is one of the
hardest workers I have ever seen or heard of," Reese said. "He put a
lot of old stories to bed tonight with that swim." Four years ago, Hansen missed making the Olympic team by hundredths of seconds in both of his events. "I
just think that after 2000, I was a man on a mission," Hansen said.
"The individual pictures from 2000 haven't left me for the last four
years. I just remember sitting in the warm-up pool with my head on my
knees and remembered how I missed my chance at the Olympics by a little
bit." Joining Hansen on the Olympic team is Mark Gangloff of Auburn University, who finished second. Team
spots were also decided in the women's 400 freestyle, won by 2000
Olympian Kaitlin Sandeno in 4 minutes 8.07 seconds. In second was Kalyn
Keller, the younger sister of Klete Keller, who won the men's 400
freestyle on Wednesday night. But it was Thompson's quest that
captivated the crowd. The story of her comeback along with the death of
her mother, Margrid, of cancer has become well known. Her
coach, John Collins of Badger Swim Club in Larchmont, N.Y., was wearing
a hat made for him by Margrid. Thompson gave it to him a few weeks ago,
on what would have been her mother's 66th birthday. The night
before the race, Thompson said, she dreamed about her mother. It is
something that happens often, she said, but this one was different. "She was glowing and healthy," she said. "It was a really beautiful dream." With that, the emotions started to catch up, and Thompson's lower lip started to quiver. The swimming, it seemed, was the easy part.
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