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Bennett unchallenged

The Valrico resident finishes just short of a record as she earns right to defend her Olympic 800 free title.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2000

[AP photo] Brooke Bennett waves to the crowd after her victory.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Daddy's little girl is all grown up now. She has her own home, her own mind, her own life. And she seems to manage it all very nicely. She doesn't need a ride to swimming practice on the back of his motorcycle and she doesn't need his approval when making career decisions.

But daughters will always be daughters, and fathers cannot help being fathers. So when they talked at lunch Tuesday afternoon, Brooke Bennett had to laugh when daddy told her what to do.

Turn and burn, darling, turn and burn.

This is what Keith used to say to Brooke when she was swimming in age-group meets in Brandon all those years ago. Before the fame, before the money, before the 1996 Olympic gold medal. It was a joking reference to the movie Top Gun that Brooke had loved so much as a child.

Tuesday night, Bennett repeated as the Olympic trials champion in the 800-meter freestyle. Her time of 8:23.92 was the fastest of her career and the fastest in the world since Janet Evans swam 8:23.61 seven years ago.

Turn and burn, darling, turn and burn.

"I wanted everybody to know that I still cherish this race as mine from the '96 Games," said Bennett, now the second-fastest 800 swimmer in U.S. history behind Evans.

"I think it does (make a statement), and that's one of the reasons why I'm so ecstatic with the time. I think it shows something to the rest of the world but, then again, it probably will get a fire burning under all of them."

The way she performed, you might think Bennett has the world at her feet. Actually, the world appears to be several lengths behind her.

She was nearly five seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kaitlin Sandeno. She is nearly six seconds ahead of what anyone in the world has done in the past two years.

The buzz the past two years has been that Diana Munz was ready to push Bennett as the world's premier distance swimmer. Munz, 18, edged Bennett in the 400 free earlier in the trials, and her preliminary time was right behind Bennett's in the 800 free Monday morning.

Bennett, 20, passed Munz between 50 and 100 meters Tuesday and led the rest of the way. She was up by a body length at 300 meters, and the second half was a chlorinated coronation.

"I felt real comfortable," Bennett said. "I kept feeling myself pulling away and I wasn't worried about what was going on behind me. I was just focusing on getting farther and farther away from the field."

If the recent attention devoted to Munz had bothered Bennett, she did not show it. She was gracious before and after the race.

But Brandon coach Peter Banks said Bennett was aware of the talk and of Munz's times. It was good for her to have Evans to chase in 1996, and it has been good to have Munz chasing her in 2000.

Jeff Griggs, her boyfriend and roommate, got a small taste of Bennett's mindset when he called her hotel Tuesday afternoon. Griggs, who was staying across town at another hotel during the trials, wanted to ask Brooke what kind of plans he should make for them later Tuesday night.

He took her silence as an indication their conversation was winding down.

"She was total game face," Griggs said. "She was ready to play ball."

Bennett had told Griggs she was planning to swim an 8:23 in the finals. That was nearly two seconds faster than her time at the Pan Pacific championships last year and four seconds better than her time at the Olympics in Atlanta in '96.

Four years later, you would expect her to be older and wiser.

But faster?

"The amazing thing about her is at 20, when most people say distance swimmers should be slowing down, she is getting faster," Banks said.

When the race was complete, Bennett turned in the water. As the other swimmers were still moving toward the wall, she looked up and saw her time. Normally cool in the water, Bennett pumped a fist in the air.

It was that kind of night for her.

Before she swam, as the competitors stepped onto the pool deck to Aretha Franklin's Respect, Bennett scanned the bleachers for Jeff; her mother, Rachel; and her father. To her surprise, she saw dad dancing in the aisles.

"I think she made up her mind to swim fast to make everybody forget about her dad dancing," Keith said. "That was a dad-out-of-control dance."

Turn and burn, darling, turn and burn.

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