LONG BEACH, Calif. — If there were any doubts about whether Jenny Thompson still had it in the freestyle, they were erased in 25.02 seconds late yesterday afternoon.
Thompson had already clinched her fourth and final Olympic berth by virtue of her second-place finish in her first individual event here at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, the 100-meter butterfly. But then she turned in a disappointing fifth-place showing on Monday in the 100 freestyle final, the event in which she won her two individual Olympic medals.
The 31-year-old Badger Swim Club member was on the rebound, though, in the 50 free these last two days, arriving with the top time in the prelims, the semifinals and then this final sprint on the final day of the trials, a gold that left her pretty pleased about how she bounced back.
"To win this event and come out of the trials on a positive note, it's a really good feeling," Thompson said. "I think it shows my maturity."
But she knows she still needs to lower her time in order to come away with a prize in Athens.
"I think it'll take a 24-something to medal, as it did in 2000," she said. "So I need to do better."
Even though she finished fifth in the 100 free, she's still eligible to bump one of the top four in the 400 free relay if the coaching staff so chooses.
"I think it's really hard to count Jenny Thompson out of that relay," said Natalie Coughlin, the second-place finisher in the 100 free. "I've never seen a better relay swimmer than her."
All eight of her Olympic golds have come via the relay route. She can be considered for all three relays in Athens just because she made the team.
"I think when you have a Jenny Thompson, she has a huge heart," said Mark Schubert, coach of the women's team. "In international competition, she's just lights out on relays. That will play a factor."
Thompson wants to race in the 400 free relay, and she wouldn't mind being chosen to hold down another spot for the entire women's team: "I would be honored to be named captain."
