Money Matters -- January 21, 1997

Brooke Bennett, 16, the Olympic 800m freestyle champion, has decided to forego her high school and college eligibility in order to accept the $65,000 in prize money she won in Atlanta. Bennett said she made the decision in part because the NCAA restricts the number of hours an athlete can train. "As a distance swimmer, those restrictions would not allow me to train as much as I need to," she said. The prize money is being placed in a trust fund for Bennett's college education.

A complete listing of the prize money US Olympic swimmers won will be posted on SWIMINFO in the near future.