The path to Athens The path to Athens (June 25, 2004)

Brooke Bishop aims to swim all the way

By Colleen Corcoran

If your name is Brooke Bishop, you will be swimming to Athens.

Your first-class ticket is being issued in Long Beach between July 7 and 14. It comes in the form of a first- or second-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle or the 100-meter backstroke. Both would be better.

A recently-graduated Mountain View High School Spartan and future Stanford Cardinal, Bishop won CCS in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.84 seconds.

Personal records and Olympic qualifying times in the longer 50-meter freestyle (26.19) and 100m backstroke (1:03.75) were set swimming with the Stanford Covington Racing Aquatics team (SCRA), now Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics (PASA).

For Bishop, the journey to Athens began every morning at 4:45 a.m. when, as a high school student, she would wake up, eat, swim from 5:15 a.m. to 7 a.m., come home, shower, dress and go to class from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Then, it was back home for homework, napping and hanging out with friends before another 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. workout followed by dinner, more homework and blissful sleep.

Now, with school finished and the Olympic Trials looming, a 6000m, two-hour morning workout is followed by 45 minutes of dry land training, another hour of one-on-one stroke technique work and a final 5000-yard session in the pool with a side of yoga and stretching.

"That's not an abnormal amount that athletes will swim a day," coach Scott Shea said. "But for her, it's just about the small things that she chooses to do that will make her better."

The first leg on Bishop's trip to Athens began 10 years ago at the Fremont Hills Country Club with SCRA and with some of the same swimmers that she trains with today.

"I did it when I was little because all my friends did it, because it wasn't super-competitive, and it was more team-oriented," Bishop said.

Ranked in the top 50 internationally in both the 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke, chasing names like 100m backstroke world-record holder Natalie Coughlin and eight-time Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, the level of competition has clearly increased.

"But even when she was younger, she was very competitive," Shea said. "You knew that talent was in there and knew that she could do great things. ... She is unbelievably talented and really puts in a lot of work throughout the year. She is very careful with planning and how she approaches her workouts in and out of the water."

But dreams of Olympic laurels dance in the heads of the at least 50 other swimmers whom Bishop will face in Long Beach.

"To make the U.S. Olympic swim team, you probably need to be top five in the world," Shea said.

Sixteen swimmers advance to the semifinals, eight to the finals and two to Athens. The world record in the 50m freestyle is 24.13 seconds, two seconds faster than Bishop's best time.

"I think if I have a really good swim, and I'm on that day, I have a chance of making top 16," she said. "That's one of my goals."

Bishop's strength is strength -- a huge reserve of fast-twitch muscles, a powerful kick, quick reactions and over six feet of height to power it all.

Natural talent backs up her hard work, but her natural handicap is age and experience: the top swimmers in her events are all in their 20s. At least.

Natalie Coughlin is 21. Jenny Thompson is 31. Brooke Bishop is 17.

But that's not what Bishop is thinking about.

"I think about what my plan is for the race," she said. "But when I get up on the blocks, I don't really think about much. I worked on it in practice, and I just go out and race."

Ten years of training to be summed up in seconds -- the longest lap to Athens.

E-mail Colleen Corcoran at sports@mv-voice.com

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