Commentator and former gold medalist Rowdy Gaines says the swim gap is shrinking.
By BRUCE LOWITT
Published November 30, 2003
They have been there before, more than any of their competitors. They'll be there again, still more often, next year in Athens. But the gap is narrowing.
There is the medals podium where U.S. Olympic swimmers receive gold, silver and bronze. Rowdy Gaines, triple-gold Olympic medalist, believes U.S. men and women, led by world-record holders Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin, once again will haul in the most precious metals.
"But the world has changed a lot in swimming," said Gaines, NBC swimming analyst at the past three Summer Games and preparing for his fourth. "More countries are getting better.
"In the old days it used to be us, Australia, Germany and Russia." To Gaines, the old days were the 1960s, '70s and, after the 1980 U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Summer Games, 1984 at Los Angeles. At Sydney in 2000 U.S. women won seven of 16 swimming golds and the men six of 16.
"Now it's all spread out. There's still us and the Australians and so on but there's Great Britain, Ukraine, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, countries that have at least one or two really good swimmers. The world is catching up. We're still going to win the most medals, win the most gold, but we're not going to be as dominating as we once were."
Gaines foresees the second- and third-most men's medals going to Australia and Russia, and women's going to Germany and Australia.
"I think we have a pretty cool team," he said.
The Winter Haven native recently spent several days speaking to students at Sutherland Elementary in Palm Harbor and other bay area schools.
Gaines emphasized dreaming big and working hard and he spoke from experience; he didn't begin swimming competitively until he turned 17 in 1976. He dreamed big: the Olympics. By 1980 he was a multiple world-record holder and favored to win four golds in Moscow but was sidelined by the boycott. Four years later he won the 100-meter freestyle and anchored the gold-medal 400 free and 400 medley relays.
Gaines said the public might not know much now about Phelps, 18, world-record holder in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 individual medleys, "but he'll be the cover boy for every magazine going into the Olympics. He's going to swim eight events and he's got a chance to win eight gold medals."
Coughlin, 100 back world-record holder and, like Phelps, owner of numerous American records, "is sort of a female version of Michael. She may end up in six events; she could win five or six gold medals.
They are the biggest stars. Other potential winners:
Plant City native Brooke Bennett, 800 free gold medalist at Atlanta in 1996 and the only U.S. female swimmer to win two individual golds (400 and 800 free) in 2000.
Amanda Beard, who tied the 200 breast world record at this year's World Championships (she also won silver in the 100 breast and 400 medley relay).
Ian Crocker, world-record holder in the 100 fly and gold medalist on the world record-breaking 400 medley relay at Sydney.
Ed Moses, gold medalist on the world record-breaking 400 medley relay and, like Beard, well-tattooed and pierced.
Bennett is coming back from shoulder surgeries in 2001.
"It'd be a lot different if she was a sprinter," Gaines said, "but because she's a distance swimmer it's going to hurt her chances."
