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The Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee wants to know your thoughts and feelings about the Olympic Games. How do they make you feel? What's your favorite event? What's your favorite memory of past Olympic Games? All this we want to know and more. Contact us and let us know what's on your mind when it comes to the Olympic Games.
Interview by Ms. Kelly Thompson's sixth-grade class, Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Morris, MN, a small farming and university town northwest of Minneapolis. I spent most of my childhood there and then lived in Sydney, Australia in fifth grade when my dad went on sabbatical. I went to high school at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, PA.
When and why did you start swimming?
I started swimming when I was seven years old. I started because my older brothers went to the pool and I just wanted to go where they did.
What was the first race you competed in?
It was probably a local swim meet when I was seven.
When did you know that you wanted to be an Olympic athlete?
In the third grade, my teacher asked us to write about what we thought we would have accomplished by the time we were 25 years old. I said that I will have gone to the Olympics and won lots of medals.
How many hours a week did you devote to training?
Many. When I was 11 or 12, I spent about and hour and a half training five days/week. By the time I was in eighth grade, I was training five hours a day. I usually trained from 6-8 a.m. and then three hours after school. On school holidays I trained six hours a day.
How did you go to school and train?
I found that if you utilize your time well, you can get a lot done. I didn't have a lot of time to study and do homework, but I used the time I had effectively and didn't procrastinate. I did well in school and went to UC Berkeley for college.
What Olympics did you participate in?
I participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea.
Have you ever regretted being an Olympic athlete because you feel you missed something in your childhood?
No. If you surround yourself with people that support you, you don't feel like you are missing out on anything. You have to love what you are doing and enjoy the process.
Did you win a gold medal?
I won five Gold medals in international competition - Pan Pacific Games (1985, 1987) and LEN Cup in Rome, Italy (1990). I was fifth at the Olympics.
What does it feel like to be a part of the U.S. Olympic team?
It makes you feel very proud. It is one of the greatest honors you could ever have.
What was your biggest obstacle to making the team?
There were many. We all have our limitations. However, nothing is truly an obstacle, there are only challenges. I would say the biggest challenge to making the 1988 team was that I had mononucleosis in 1986 and was unable to go to the World Championship trials. I had to learn to slow down and allow myself to rest. It was a real test of patience.
How many World Championships did you participate in?
I participated in one. It was in Perth, Australia in January of 1991.
Who are your Olympic heroes and why?
Mary T. Meagher and Tracy Caulkins are my heroes. They were swimmers as well. I read books on them when I was growing up and I could relate to them. I really looked up to what they did.
What advice do you have for young athletes?
Have fun, have a dream, and break down your dream into action steps that will make it possible.
What do you do now as a job?
I am a family therapist and also am an executive in the health care industry. I am also working on the bid to bring the Olympic Games to San Francisco in 2012.
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