In A Class All Her Own

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Nov 2004 by Lord, Craig

Australia's Brooke Hanson won five individual gold medals at the recent World Championships-something no other swimmer on the world's stage has ever done.

When Brooke Hanson returned to Australia from Athens last August sporting two Olympic medals and a million-dollar smile fit to send marketeers and merchandisers into a spin, she found herself posing for snapshots at the Sydney airport with a prime minister who was working the campaign trail for all it was worth.

The political kissing of babies and babes ended with the Aussie ballot, but John Howard's newly elected government may wish to hook up with Brooke once more after her latest exploit-a record six gold medals from the World Short Course Championships, Oct. 7-11, in Indianapolis.

Only one of those golds came in a relay-and a world record-breaking one at that-making the 26-year-old the first swimmer ever to win five individual titles at the same meet on the world's stage. Her six golds overall exceeded the previous best of five at a World Short Course Championships by China's Le Jingyi in 1993.

Hanson, for whom every race produced a personal best, said after the meet, "It's amazing. It's going to take some time to sink in. There have been so many special moments that I really don't want to say goodbye to 2004."

Had it not been for the United States-which thrilled a home crowd with 21 titles among its 41 medals-Hanson would have topped the medals chart, too, having given Australia all but one of its titles!

Michael Phelps might also have been the one to win six medals, however, part way through the meet he had to withdraw from the rest of his events because of back trouble-the nature of which doctors refused to discuss with the media. Or it might have been U.S. teammate Kaitlin Sandeno, who would have surely won more than her four gold medals had she been allowed-like Hanson-to stretch beyond her Olympic race program.

Instead, it was an unlikely Australian against whom the odds were heavily stacked, despite the absence of rivals such as Yana Klochkova (in town but out of action), who might have spoiled the Hanson mega-haul.

Day by Day

Her first triumph came in the 50 meter breaststroke on Day Two of the five-day meet. That event was her closest, winning with a time of 30.20 to 30.21 over teammate Jade Edmistone. It was also arguably the most unexpected, given Edmistone's world record 29.90 in late September.

On Day Three, Hanson dominated the 100 IM on the strength of a blistering breaststroke leg that helped bring her a convincing 1:00.01 victory over teammate Shayne Reese and Slovakia's Martina Moravcova. She then teamed with Sophie Edington, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Lenton to notch the only women's world record of the Championships-3:54.95 in the 4 x 100 meter medley relay.

Day Four was better still-two individual victories in the 100 breast and 200 IM. She clocked 1:05.36 in the breaststroke to win over Edmistone and Tara Kirk, then came back with a 2:09.81 in the IM to beat teammate Lara Carroll and 15-year-old North Baltimore phenom, Katie Hoff. In that race, she once again trounced the field in breaststroke, making up about three seconds on the third 50 to pull even with the field going into freestyle.

Day Five was the most nerve-wracking for Hanson: "I really felt it. All day, I tried to play down the hype about winning six golds, and I kept telling myself that I'd just give it my best shot. I was really nervous, though. Amanda (Beard) was there in the 200 breast-the Olympic champion and a great career...."

She called her coach, Mark Thompson, who was back home in Melbourne. "My phone bill's going to be huge this month," said Hanson. "I was on the phone for like half-an-hour. He told me I was in the zone and that I simply had to knuckle down for two more swims (prelims and finals). He's a big "Star Wars" fan like me, and throughout the race, I just kept telling myself, 'Use The Force.'"

"The Force" was, indeed, with her.

The close race ended at the last turn, when Hanson appeared to bounce off the wall and shot ahead of Beard as Australia's Sarah Katsoulis fought her way into medal contention. Hanson punched the air in delight after touching the wall in 2:21.68-85-hundredths ahead of Beard. And for the first time all week, a tear welled up in her eye.

"It was an emotional swim," said Hanson, "because Kristy Kowal was in the next lane. We've been good friends for a while, and I knew this was the last race of her life. I gave her a hug at the end, not just in friendship but in recognition of a great sporting career."

Before she rested on Day Seven, Day Six was set aside for traveling and celebrating. Would she be having a beer? "Darn right, I will," she said.

Ian Hanson, the father, needed one, too. He's the media director for Australian Swimming, and as such, he was usually the first face Brooke saw each time she emerged from a race. Looking somewhat stunned as he propped himself on a wall after Brooke's sixth gold medal, Hanson looked across at his daughter and said, "Mate, I can't really take it in. We can't believe it. I don't think it'll sink in for a few weeks after we get back home. It's incredible."