Sudden Impact (Part I)

Sudden Impact
Despite their young age, high school athletes have always played an important role in the makeup of the U.S. Olympic team.
By John Lohn

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series on high school athletes and their impact upon the Olympics. This month features the past; next month, the future.

From Berlin to Tokyo, from Munich to Sydney, and stops in between, they've been woven into the fabric of American swimming. They've been the future, sometimes fulfilling the lofty expectations dropped on their youthful shoulders.

In 1932, they were present. In 1968, they were deckside. Their impact was felt in 2000. In 2004, they're certain to be in the mix, extending a tradition that has endured for nearly a century. The high school athlete, undoubtedly, has been a constant in the world of Olympic swimming.

So, who's it going to be this time around? How will the youth movement unfold? Will the kids be able to handle the pressure? Is this the stage that will produce the next great one, as has been the case in the past? We'll address these questions next month.

For now, let's look at the impact high school swimmers have had on the Olympic Games in the past.

Female Frenzy
The names go on and on. Donna De Varona and Tracy Caulkins. Mary T. Meagher and Michelle Richardson. Amanda Beard and Megan Quann. And, of course, Janet Evans. Honestly, the Olympic qualification of high school females is commonplace.

De Varona was a gold medalist in the 400 individual medley in 1964 after winning relay gold as a 14-year-old in 1960. Richardson took silver in the 800 free in 1984 as an eighth-grader. Beard and Quann collected multiple medals in 1996 and 2000, respectively. Meagher and Caulkins, eventual Olympic gold-medal winners, forged ahead after the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games by President Jimmy Carter.

Every Olympic year, several slots on the United States roster are occupied by teenage girls, youngsters having just received their diplomas, or still working toward that high school sheepskin. Obviously, then, there is little reason to believe that the veterans, at least among women, have a significant advantage over the youthful contingent. Each has its positive and negative attributes.

"Qualifying for an Olympic team is the most difficult thing anyone could do, young or old," Quann (pictured below) said.

"As a young up-and-comer, going into the Olympics, I was almost na•ve. I was basically oblivious to the pressures that surrounded me. As a high school athlete, that gave me an advantage. The older athletes, even those who had been there before, knew what to expect, but that, in itself, isn't always beneficial."

The lure of the Olympic Games may be the greatest temptation an athlete can know. After qualifying for the 1980 Games at her peak, Meagher's initial Olympic opportunity was delayed. Yet, in her search for Olympic glory, she pressed on, claiming gold in 1984 in the 100 and 200 butterfly events. Four years later, Madame Butterfly was on the medal podium again, this time earning a bronze in the 200 fly at the Games in Seoul, South Korea.

In 1996, 14-year-old Amanda Beard was the darling of the Atlanta Olympics, her teddy bear a constant companion en route to silver-medal efforts in the breaststroke disciplines and a gold on the American 400 medley relay. In the ensuing years, Beard fell from the pedestal of international swimming, only to return in 2000 with a bronze medal in the 200 breast. Now, Beard is the reigning world champion in the 200 breast, and co-world record holder.

Yes, the Olympic itch is powerful, an addiction of sorts. In many cases, the bug has bitten the teenage athlete, prompting that individual to continue with her rigorous schedule, for the hope that further Olympic glory is attainable.

After Quann won a pair of gold medals in Sydney, she hit a plateau in her swimming. Although she qualified for the World Championships in 2001, an individual medal was not in the mix. Then, last summer, a World Championship invitation to Barcelona proved elusive. But, through focus and the motivation to be a two-time Olympian, Quann has re-established herself as a force to be reckoned with in Long Beach.

Flip Turn
Remember Ralph Flanagan? Probably not, considering the fact that Flanagan's tale is a 72-year-old story that hasn't been notably etched in the annals of the sport. He was the 13-year-old who qualified for the 1932 Olympics.

The youngest male swimmer ever to represent the United States at the Olympics, Flanagan opened a door in Los Angeles through which only a handful of young men have walked.. While the female teenager is a staple in Olympic competition, physiology has made the task more difficult to attain for the opposite sex.

There is no argument that girls, including swimmers, mature earlier than boys. Compared to his female counterpart, the male swimmer takes longer to reach physical maturity.

"The age factor for men plays a role," said Aaron Peirsol (pictured at right), the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. "It's difficult for a high school swimmer to compete with stronger and older guys. I matured early and was fortunate that everything worked out. Males get stronger later than females. There's no debate about that."

Three decades after Flanagan completed his Olympic experience, a pair of high school standouts set the stage for glamorous careers in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Earning the honor to wear the Red, White and Blue, Gary Hall Sr. and Mark Spitz grabbed the spotlight.

In securing a silver medal in the 400 individual medley, Hall set the table for silver- and bronze-medal winning performances in 1972 and 1976. Spitz, meanwhile, parlayed a four-medal haul in 1968 into a seven-gold, seven-world record take in 1972, a feat considered in many circles to be the greatest accomplishment in Olympic lore.

More than three decades later, the high schoolers were still at it.

As a 17-year-old during the summer of 2000, Peirsol battled through his veteran counterparts to claim an Olympic team berth and, eventually, a silver medal in Sydney in the 200 backstroke. Peirsol, too, was a member of a team that can be considered an anomaly, in that it featured a number of high school males.

While Peirsol flourished in the backstroke, he was joined as a 'Young Gun' by the trio of Ian Crocker, Klete Keller and Michael Phelps. Really, the emergence of these youthful stars was an oddity, perhaps a once-in-a-generation occurrence. Their arrival, though, was a breakthrough in American swimming.

These days, Crocker is the reigning world record holder and world champion in the 100 butterfly. Keller, who picked up a bronze medal in the 400 free in Sydney, has been a short-course world champion. And Phelps, well, we'll have more on the world's finest swimmer in next monthÕs article.

"I think a cycle like that will pop up every once in a while, but 2000 was a special year," Peirsol said. "I think the next team will be veteran-oriented. This could be a dangerous team. In 2000, there was a mix of athletes. Anything can happen at Trials, but (the 2004) team will probably be more established. I think it's more predictable."

John Lohn is a sportswriter for the Delaware County Daily Times and a regular contributor to Swimming World.