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Bennett's dreams go on and on

The gold medal winner savors "great experience, great times'' in Sydney.

By MIKE READLING

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000

[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys] Mayor Dick Greco gives Valrico's Brooke Bennett a picture of the University of Tampa's minarets at a luncheon in honor of the Olympian, who won two gold medals in Sydney.

TAMPA -- Two days after getting a chance to sleep in her own bed, in her own house, in her own country, Brooke Bennett stood in front of a crowd in the Hyatt Regency's ballroom and promised to sneak as many people as she could in to watch her final Olympic race.

That race, she joked, would be the 800-meter freestyle in the 2012 Games in the Tampa Bay area.

That sounds like a dream of Bennett's. The area has not been awarded the Games, and by that time, Bennett, a three-time gold medal winner, would be 32 years old.

Dreams, however, are things Bennett tends to turn into reality.

"It certainly could happen if I wanted it to," Bennett said. "But I'm going to focus on the next four years first."

As a 4 year old, the Plant City native became interested in swimming because of her grandfather. It was his dream that Bennett would be an Olympic gold medalist.

She fulfilled that dream four years ago in Atlanta, winning the 800 freestyle, and added to it in Australia by winning gold in the 400 and 800 freestyle.

Dressed in a USA Swimming jacket and blue jeans Tuesday, Bennett said she has committed to training to compete in the 2004 Olympics but planned on taking time off to enjoy being back home in Valrico.

"The first thing I did was lay down on my bed," Bennett said. "I enjoyed everything about Australia. It was a great experience, great times. It's hard to put into words what I've accomplished in such a short period of time in my life. I accomplished some of the greatest things I will ever do in my life a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to take some time to soak it all in."

Bennett will make her first public appearance Oct. 21 at Adventure Island, signing autographs and "hanging out" with her family.

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