book this speaker
JENNY THOMPSON
Ms. Olympics
Jenny Thompson is the most decorated American female Olympian in history. Her 10 total medals (eight gold, one silver, one bronze) bettered the total of previous record holder, swimmer Shirley Babashoff, by one. Her eight golds—all in relays—are three more than speed skater Bonnie Blair. In Athens, her fourth Olympic Games, Thompson can break three of the most impressive Olympic records—career golds (nine, held by four people); career medals by an American (Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi share with 11); and career swimming medals (Spitz, Biondi and Carl Osburn). At the 2004 U.S. Trials, she qualified for 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle and the 4×100m free relay pool.
Diagnosis: comeback
Thompson took almost two years off after Sydney to attend Columbia University’s medical school. Since she had been swimming since age eight, Thompson thinks her body benefited from the time off. She returned to competition for the 2002 Summer Nationals just eight weeks after resuming training. She missed the first week of her third year of medical school to compete in Pan Pacs in August 2002. In 2003, she capped her comeback with three medals at the World Championships, including a bronze in the 100m freestyle, gold in the 4×100m freestyle relay and 4×100m medley relay.
An inspiration
Although Athens marks Thompson’s fourth Olympics, things are quite different this time around. For one, she is the oldest member of the Olympic swimming team. She told Sports Network that she looks forward to being a mentor to the younger members. “I see my role as being on the of the wise old women on the team and giving as much as I can to this team and soaking up as much of the Olympic experience as I can because it’ll likely be my last one.” Also this year, Thompson endured one of the most difficult times in her life in February when her mother Margrid died of cancer. Thompson told Sports Network, “I think she was part of the reason I wanted to come back. I know that my swimming was a great source of joy for her. I think she’s still an inspiration to me.”
Barcelona to Sydney
Thompson went into the 2000 Sydney Games with high hopes of ending her gold medal drought in individual events. Her first shot came in the 100m butterfly, but Thompson finished a disappointing fifth. Four days later she tied teammate Dara Torres for the bronze in 100m freestyle with a time of 54.43. Though an individual gold eluded her again, she added three more relay golds to her impressive resume. Thompson never had a chance at an individual medal in Atlanta in 1996 because she failed to qualify in four events at the Olympic Trials. That year she anchored the victorious American teams in the two freestyle relays, and added another gold in the medley relay. Thompson began her Olympic career in 1992, finishing second in the 100 free and fifth in the 50 free after setting a world 100 record and an American 50 mark at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Her golds that year came in the 4×100m freestyle and medley relays.
A medal is a medal
Thompson told the Washington Post she isn’t bothered any more by repeated questions about failing to win an individual gold. “It’s sort of inevitable that people will ask me about that,” Thompson said. “From the outside, that’s the deal. But it would be a shame to let all of the success and all of the blessings I’ve had [be overshadowed by] one little thing.” She also noted that not everyone cares how she got her medals. “When I go and show my gold medals to kids, they don’t ask me if the medal was from a relay,” she said. “They just know it’s a gold medal. And I like the team aspect of the sport, too.”
New program
Her training schedule is different compared to Sydney. While training at Stanford before the 2000 Games, Thompson swam, lifted weights, attended spinning classes and did Pilates, all in a single day. Now, because of medical school obligations, she told the Washington Post last summer she limits her training to 90 minutes of swimming per day.
In her younger days
Thompson’s dual medical school and swimming careers show a special maturity. But she wasn’t always that way. In 1994, she and a friend attempted to do a flip on a homemade water slide at a Stanford fraternity house, but they landed awkwardly on each other and Thompson broke her left forearm. Doctors informed Thompson she would miss the rest of the swimming season. “I told them, ‘No, I need this year,’” she says. “I told them I’m a fast healer.” She was right. Two weeks later, Thompson won the 100-meter freestyle title at the national championships in Indianapolis—just 10 days after having a titanium plate and seven screws inserted in her arm.
Born with gills
A swimmer almost since birth, Thompson’s first contact with the water came when she was five months old and her older brothers would pass her between them, making Jenny swim six or seven feet. At age seven, she didn’t make the first swim team she tried out for. The following summer, she made the team at the Cedardale Swim and Tennis Club in Groveland, Mass. Soon after she started training with coach Mike Parratto at Seacoast Swimming in Dover, N.H., and by age 12 she had committed herself to the sport. At Seacoast, in a tiny facility inside of what used to be Dover’s public vehicle garage, the six-lane pool—then-called the Guppy Pool—was 25 yards long and 31/2 feet deep. The pool was renamed the Jenny Thompson Competition Pool at Guppy Park after the 1996 Olympics, and is now Olympic sized.
book this speaker
JENNY’S INFO
- Call For Pricing
- Request more information
- Book Jenny