Jill Sterkel

A Master of the Trials
By Tito Morales
Editor's Note: Pick up a copy of the March issue of Swimming World and read more about the numerous U.S. swimmers who entered the Olympic Trials as underdogs, but emerged as top dogs: 'On Any Given Day' by Tito Morales.

Some swimmers just seem destined to become Olympians.

Hall of Famer Jill Sterkel's lot in life seemed predetermined when she qualified for her first U.S. Nationals at the age of 12. And, sure enough, three years later, in 1976, Sterkel not only earned her way onto the Montreal Olympic team, but she won a gold medal as part of the 4 x 100 free relay.

Still a young teenager, Sterkel had essentially reached the pinnacle of the sport. However, Sterkel was convinced that she still had some good Olympic swimming left in her career. She had no idea at the time, but she would have to wait eight years to prove it.

Sterkel, now a coach with the University of Texas, was forced to endure the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games when she was unquestionably at the height of her abilities. But she found the wherewithal to hang on for another four long years to make the team for the 1984 Olympics.

In Los Angeles, Sterkel, who served as captain of the U.S. team, won a second gold medalÑagain as part of the 4 x 100 free relay.

Her triumph was sweetÑredemption, surely, for having had the rug pulled out from under her when she was in her prime. But the experience still left Sterkel feeling unsatiated. Individual glory had still eluded her.

After taking a year off after the 1984 Olympics, Sterkel declared her intentions to try for yet another U.S. Olympic team, and the reaction ranged from tepid to incredulous.

Three Olympic teams for any athlete was practically unheard of, especially for a swimmer. Four was simply preposterous.

On Aug. 8, 1988, the opening day of competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Sterkel faltered in her specialty, the 100 freestyle. Her seventh-place finish in finals wasn't even good enough to qualify for the relay, and murmurs of 'I told you so' and 'Why couldn't she have just left well enough alone?' filled the natatorium.

Sterkel was 27 years old. Some of her competitors at the Trials were half her age. Many hadn't even been introduced to a pool yet when Sterkel was winning gold 12 years before. Whereas twice before she was a Trials' favorite, she was now little more than a footnote.

Sterkel had all this and more to reflect upon as she watched five days of competition drift past while she awaited her next event, the 50 free.

By the time her 50 free prelim heat finally rolled around at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials, her reputation had begun to evaporate from esteemed three-time Olympian to yet another athlete who had worn out her welcome by staying in the game too long.

Exactly 25.78 seconds later, though, she'd blasted her way to an unlikely third-place seeding in the finals. And, later that evening, she proved the swim was no fluke by finishing third in the finals to earn a spot on her fourth U.S. Olympic team.

Later that summer, after 16 consecutive years of being a U.S. Olympic team member, Jill Sterkel won her first ever individual medal at the Seoul Olympics, a bronze in the 50 meter freestyle.

Sterkel had willingly stepped into the tempestuous fire of the Trials four times, and she somehow found a way to prevail on each occasion.

Curiously, Sterkel's lengthy Olympic career may still not have reached a conclusion. In the years since her bronze medal in 1988, irrefutable evidence has surfaced that those on the podium beside her were aided by the illicit use of performance-enhancing drugs.

If justice is ever properly served, Sterkel may one day be awarded an individual Olympic gold medal.