Bennett captures gold in 400m

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times Online

[AP photo] U.S. swimmer Brooke Bennett stands during the presentation of medals for the women's 400m freestyle Sunday. Bennett won the gold medal for the event.

SYDNEY, Australia - She has talked about being older and wiser. Being better prepared and more mature.

And maybe that explains Brooke Bennett's reaction after winning the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle Sunday evening.

She looked at the scoreboard with an expression of utter disbelief and proceeded to cry all over the Olympic pool.

At age 20, four years removed from her first Olympic gold medal, Bennett seems to have grasped what the moment truly means.

"I don't think I have ever shown that much emotion,'' Bennett said. "At 16, I didn't have a clue what to do. I didn't know how to hold myself, how to carry myself, how to show emotion. I think this was just something that was boiled up inside of me for so long.''

Bennett's victory was the first indivdual gold medal for the U.S. swim team in the 2000 Games.

Bennett has proven herself during the last four years as the world's top distance swimmer in the 800, but she had not been able to translate it quite as well over the shorter 400.

She failed to qualify for the 400 in the Olympics in 1996; she finished second in the world championships in '98 and second in the Olympic trials last month. Bennett came into the Olympics as the No. 3 seed in the world, but firmly established herself as a dual threat Sunday evening.

Her time of 4:05.80 is the fifth-fastest in history and the best by an American since Janet Evans swam a 4:04.53 in 1989.

"I knew it was a gold medal swim. I saw the scoreboard behind me and I saw I won, but the time was a blur,'' Bennett said. "When I saw the 4:05, that's when I kind of lost it. It was a gold medal but it was also a 2 1/2 second drop from my personal best. The combination of winning the gold, coming back four years later and dominating the 400 ... it was just amazing.''

Since Bennett does not have the sprint speed of some of her rivals, her race strategy was to go out strong and build a lead and then challenge anyone to come from behind in the final 100 meters.

Bennett led from the start and, at the halfway point, was ahead of the world record pace. She had a full second lead by 250 meters and no one ever got closer. Diana Munz, who beat Bennett at the trials in Indianapolis in August, finished second at 4:07.07.

"That is her race. That is what Brooke does,'' said Peter Banks, Bennett's longtime coach with the Brandon Blue Wave and the assistant Olympic coach. "She says 'This is my race, you're going to have to beat me. Who wants to hurt? Who is willing to hurt themselves as much as I hurt?' ''

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