ONE OF THE GREATEST SPRINTERS OF ALL TIME
debut, she did enough to suggest that big days were ahead in the sprint and fly. And with another European medal in the 50 free in 1993, the Dutchwoman seemed on pace. But on the road to the Centennial Olympics, de Bruijn lost the fire that is necessary to compete at the highest level. It might have been the best thing for her career.
[PHOTO BY NORIKO CONCEPT IMAGES]
A BENEFICIAL BREAK
The 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney are widely remembered for the home-nation success of Australia, which was spearheaded by teenage sensation Ian Thorpe. But the Games Down Under also served as a redemptive locale for the Netherlands’ Inge de Bruijn, who used the stage to define herself as one of the sport’s legends. BY JOHN LOHN
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sually, an invitation to the Olympic Games would generate greater passion for the sport and a more-intense focus on the work that awaits. But not all athletes are wired the same, and as the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta approached, something was missing for Inge de Bruijn. Her training sessions lacked dedication. Sometimes, she would arrive late to practice. On occasion, she didn’t show up at all! In the early 1990s, de Bruijn was a promising talent for the Netherlands. At the 1991 European Championships, de Bruijn earned a silver medal (100 butterfly) and bronze medal (50 freestyle) in Athens, efforts that complemented a relay bronze medal from the World Championships. The next year, she was eighth in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 butterfly at the Olympics in Barcelona. Although de Bruijn did not reach the podium in her Olympic
De Bruijn managed to qualify for the Atlanta Games, but her waning desire led Coach Jacco Verhaeren to dismiss her from the national team roster. It wasn’t an easy decision for Verhaeren to make, as de Bruijn was also his girlfriend. But it was the right call, and one that—eventually—provided a major boost to de Bruijn’s career. “My break in 1996 was good for me,” de Bruijn said. “I didn’t swim for a year. There was no point going to the Olympics because I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself. I wasn’t having fun. After that, I put in the hard work, and I used my talent totally. I just got faster and faster.” In 1997, de Bruijn shifted her training base to the United States, where she started to work with Paul Bergen. In Bergen, de Bruijn found a mentor who had elite credentials, specifically as the former coach to Tracy Caulkins, and was able to bring out the best in the Dutch lady. In short time, the fire that once burned returned. By the 1998 World Championships, de Bruijn was a finalist in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, and she earned three medals at the 1999 European Championships—gold in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, and silver in the 100 freestyle. A year shy of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, de Bruijn had established herself as a major force. “What has really made a big difference to my fitness is the dryland training (Bergen) has introduced into my program,” de Bruijn said. “I do a lot of running, biking, rope climbing, jump ropes, medicine balls and stretching. Those kinds of things have really made me feel in good shape.”
TOP OF THE WORLD
The 2000 campaign can only be described as sensational for de Bruijn, whose march to Sydney included world records in all three of her prime events. Overall, de Bruijn broke six global standards en route to her second Olympiad, efforts that enabled her to compete with booming confidence. More were produced in Sydney. During her week in Australia, de Bruijn put together one of the most impressive performances by a female in Olympic history. She swept all three of her individual events and set a world record in each discipline. Her world records in the freestyle events arrived in the semifinals, with her global mark in the 100 butterfly punctuating her gold-medal effort. She added a silver medal as a member of the Netherlands’ 400 freestyle relay. De Bruijn’s triple-gold performance was staggering on the whole, but a closer look at each of her triumphs revealed an even more exceptional effort. None of the Dutchwoman’s races were close, as she prevailed by 19-hundredths in the 50 free and a halfsecond in the 100 free. In the 100 butterfly, de Bruijn blasted the competition, her world-record time of 56.61 more than a second clear of silver medalist Martina Moravcova of Slovenia. In becoming one of the stars of Sydney, de Bruijn had to defeat some of the top names in the sport. In the sprint-freestyle events, Sweden’s Therese Alshammar was the silver medalist in both distances, with American Dara Torres winning bronze in the 50 freestyle and sharing bronze with countrywoman Jenny Thompson in the 100 freestyle. CONTINUED ON 26 >> AUGUST 2021
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