she says, "you' re just staring at a black line on the bottom of the pool all day. It's no fun." Two years later, she gave it another try. This time she honed her sights on the black X painted on each end of the pool. By seventh grade, Suzie was working out four hours a day and establishing herself as one of Virginia's best young swimmers. Like her peer across the continent, Rapp had Olympic dreams. Suzie parlayed her success into a Stanford swimming scholarship in 1983. And like Jenna, Suzie took home a 1984 Olympic medal, a silver in the tOOmeter breaststroke. But fulfilling her Olympic dream wasn't satisfying for Suzie. "After the Olympics were over, the feeling inside wasn't as great as I had hoped," she says. "I questioned why I was swimming and why I was going to such a prestigious school." Sensing her spiritual need, Suzie asked God to reveal Himself to her. "I asked Him to show me if there was anything to this life at all." He did, but in a way that Suzie didn't expect. In the fall of 1984, her sophomore year, her world came unraveled. She injured her knee while practicing the breaststroke's strenuous kick and had to undergo arthroscopic surgery. Doctors told her that she might never swim again. She was crushed. "Before, I was motivated to do well in swim meets because that's how I attained my self-worth and identity. When my knee went, there went my self-worth.'' While she was injured, Suzie examined her life. She could see that swimming was more important to her than her relationship to God was. A change was in order, but she didn't know how to make it. Suzie had attended church and Sunday school as a child, but she felt uncomfortable there "because I always knew there was something that I didn't know about. I didn't know who Jesus was, if there was a God or what He's like." Suzie began attending a Bible study with some teammates and read C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. She began to piece the puzzle together. In February 1985, Suzie trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. As she continues to grow in that relationship, a new perspective on swimming and life has emerged. Though the competitive fires still burn within, her performance no longer determines her demeanor. "A lot of breaststrokers are out to beat me. If they go faster than I, good for them. I could quit swimming tomorrow if I had to.'' Though Rapp's college career will end after the 1987-88 season, Johnson's has many laps left. Jenna's relationship with Christ - which she's enjoyed since second grade - has helped her handle swimming success. She remembers feeling humbly embarrassed when her high school teammates would ask for an autograph after she won the Olympics. And roommate Carolyn Bell, an ex-Stanford swimmer, can testify to Jenna's humility. Because of a mix-up, Jenna received one of her gold medals in the mail nearly two years late. She hid it under her mattress for a month before sheepishly showing it to Carolyn. "I was amazed at all the work the medal represented and how modest she was about it," Carolyn says.
But Jenna warns that confidence doesn't always follow success. Often, she finds herself having to look to Christ when her self-image is less than Olympian. "Before a race, I'll pray, 'Lord, help me to be the best I can,"' she says. "Then after it's over, no matter the outcome, it feels so good to say, 'Thank you, God.' It's a way to witness for Him, because without Him, I couldn't have done it.'' For Suzie, touch finishes and tenths of seconds maintain humility. For instance, she says, first or second place at the Olympic trials means a spot on the team; third place means you're headed home. Often, '----...._.w the difference is milliseconds. "You realize that the Looking to 1988• Jenna's other competitors are as good as you are and could goal Is Seoul. probably beat you on any given day," Suzie says.
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'Imotivated was to do well for my own selfworth.'
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ENNA AND SUZIE and their Stanford teammates have rarely tasted defeat. The team finished second in the NCAA meet in 1987, third in 1986, and no lower than third since 1982. But to be a champion takes commitment. Suzie, Jenna, and their Stanford teammates work out daily from 6 to 8 A.M. and from 2 to 5 P.M. Jenna says she wouldn't have it any other way: "I can't comprehend not to know what it's like to be physically drained. Everyone should experience it." The blood, sweat, and tears, she says, teach valuable character traits such as dedication, teamwork, and self-sacrifice. Jenna and Suzie attribute much of their swimming success to the work habits they established at a young age. "Most successful swimmers do start early," Jenna says. "I think it's important because you have to perfect the strokes." However, too much pushing by a coach or parent can produce burnout, she warns. "Build a little each year on what you did before," Suzie recommends. "But keep in mind that not everyone is going to make the Olympics. The world will tell you that you're nothing if you don't. That's not important. What is important is finding a sport you enjoy and using the gifts God gave you to the best of your ability.'' Both young women will be practicing what they preach this summer when they try out to represent the U.S. in the Pan Pacific swimming meet, an international event held in Australia. Additionally, both have their eyes set on gold again - the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Suzie hopes to compete in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. Jenna hopes to excel in the 50-meter freestyle and avoid the disappointment that followed her second-place finish in the butterfly. "After I lost, I was a little down," Jenna says. "Then I thought to myself, ' How can you complain? You're in the Olympics!' I realized that the Olympics and all the accolades are not even important in the course of eternity. We have something much greater to look forward to: eternal life with the Lord." •
Paul Hoemann is a free-lance writer living in Columbia, Mo. SECOND LOOK 16