When Katie Hoff made the Olympics in 2004, she was young, inexperienced, and got overwhelmed. Since then she's dominated swimming in America, done well globally, and in 2008 she has been overwhelmed - again. To me, she just looks the part of the nervous girl, constantly re-adjusting her goggles and plastering them to her face before races, taking deep breaths, etc. You don't see this out of Coughlin, Phelps, Piersol, and the list goes on and on. How is she going to perform at the highest level if she's a nervous wreck before races?
She was the prohibitive favorite in the IM's, and one of few favorites in the 2, 4, and 8 Freestyles. She got 4th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, and an FTQ, respectively. We should all be so fortunate to be that good, but from a US Swimming standpoint, I think this has to go down as a disappointing performace. The only thing saving her (media-wise) is Phelps. Otherwise she'd have been the spotlight athlete. She was even mentioned as having a chance for 5 golds. She's failed to meet expectations. And it's a common occurrence in US women's swimming since the '88 games. Jenny Thompson comes to mind.
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As far as the media's expectations (which I believe can sometimes help shape the competitor's as well), I don't think they have truly absorbed how much a true World Sport at the elite level swimming has become. It is so easy to be beaten while doing a personal best (which is lesson that a lot of masters learn) and lose track of true personal achievement.
Right now, the public in Canada are grumbling about our dearth of medals, when we spend very little on summer sports; even dissing Mike Brown for missing a medal while setting two CDN records (nearly a 2 second drop) in the 200 brst.
Canada used to do pretty well in the 1970's when having a strong club system virtually guaranteed some swimmers capable of medalling on a thin world scene. US had a strong club scene and NCAA which at that time was unique. Now many countries have elite programs, sports institutes, exploit NCAA system etc. It is now a bearpit on the international swimming scene and I think Katie Hoff should hold her head high no matter what else happens.
As far as the media's expectations (which I believe can sometimes help shape the competitor's as well), I don't think they have truly absorbed how much a true World Sport at the elite level swimming has become. It is so easy to be beaten while doing a personal best (which is lesson that a lot of masters learn) and lose track of true personal achievement.
Right now, the public in Canada are grumbling about our dearth of medals, when we spend very little on summer sports; even dissing Mike Brown for missing a medal while setting two CDN records (nearly a 2 second drop) in the 200 brst.
Canada used to do pretty well in the 1970's when having a strong club system virtually guaranteed some swimmers capable of medalling on a thin world scene. US had a strong club scene and NCAA which at that time was unique. Now many countries have elite programs, sports institutes, exploit NCAA system etc. It is now a bearpit on the international swimming scene and I think Katie Hoff should hold her head high no matter what else happens.
