Jenny Thompson
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, and one of the most decorated Olympians
in history, winning twelve medals, including eight gold medals (all relay), in the 1992
, 1996
, 2000
, and 2004 Summer Olympics
.
Thompson, a Massachusetts
native who calls Dover, New Hampshire
her hometown, began swimming at age 7 at a summer country club called Cedardale in Groveland, Massachusetts
. She swam there every summer from ages 7 to 12 under coach Nancy Pearson Brennan. During the indoor season, she swam at the Danvers YMCA from ages 7 to 9, and then continued swimming under coach Nancy Pearson Brennan at the Andover-North Andover YMCA from the ages of 10 to 12. At age 12 she began swimming for Seacoast Swimming Association under coaches Amy and Mike Parratto.
She first appeared on the international scene as a 14-year-old in 1987, when she won the 50-meter freestyle and placed third in the 100 m freestyle
at the Pan American Games
. She won her first world championship in 1991, as part of the USA's winning 4x100 m freestyle relay team, and held the world record in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle when she participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona
, Spain
.
In 2006, Thompson received a medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
, and is currently working as a fellow in anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
in Boston
.
swimming team, and continued to rank among the world's best swimmers for the next four years. During Thompson's four years at Stanford, she was a member of four NCAA championship teams, considered to be some of the most dominant collegiate teams in NCAA history. During that time, Thompson amassed nineteen individual and relay NCAA titles. However, a poor performance at the 1996 Olympic Trials kept her from competing in any individual event at that year's Games in Atlanta
. Despite this, she competed in three gold-medal winning relay teams at the Olympics; the 4x100 m freestyle, 4x100 m medley, and 4x200 m freestyle.
Between 1997 and 1999, Thompson won eight more world championship titles, including three in a row in the 100 m freestyle. At the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney
, Australia
she won a bronze in the 100 m freestyle and was fifth in the 100 m butterfly. But in the relay events, she swam the anchor leg in helping the USA defend its titles in the 4x100 m freestyle and the 4x200 m freestyle relays. She also swam the butterfly leg in the winning 4x100 m relays. The 4x100 free and medley teams set new world records in the process.
At the World Championships that year, she broke the world record in the 100 m butterfly for the fourth time, winning a qualifying heat in a time of 56.56 en route to a gold medal in the event.
. However, while attending medical school, she made a return to competition at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama
, Japan
. Thompson won five medals in two days, setting a career-best time in winning the 50 meter freestyle. At the 2003 World Championships, she would win five medals, including two gold medals.
At age 31, Thompson was the oldest member of the 2004 U.S. Swimming and Diving team, competing in her fourth Olympics in Athens
, Greece
. She was the anchor member of the 400-meter freestyle relay, where contributed to a national record of 3:36.39 and a silver medal. She earned another silver medal as a member of the 4x100 meter medley relay. During her Olympic career, Thompson won twelve medals, eight of which were relay gold; the most for any female Olympic swimmer in history.
. She did her internship at the New York City
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
, and she is currently working as a resident anesthesiologist
at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
in Boston
. In June,, 2010 she was assaulted when two men attempted to steal her scooter, however she was able to fight off both of her attackers. http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/brookline/2010/06/olympian_allegedly_assaulted_i.html http://wbztv.com/local/jenny.thompson.brookline.2.1780461.html
Thompson married Daniel Richard Cumpelik on September 5, 2010.
Anethesiologist at Maine Medical Center
as the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1998. She was the Women's Sports Foundation
's Athlete of the Year in 2000.
Her adopted hometown of Dover, New Hampshire
has a public pool named in her honor.
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in history, winning twelve medals, including eight gold medals (all relay), in the 1992
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
, 1996
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
, 2000
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, and 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
.
Thompson, a Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
native who calls Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
her hometown, began swimming at age 7 at a summer country club called Cedardale in Groveland, Massachusetts
Groveland, Massachusetts
Groveland, Massachusetts Groveland is a small residential town located in northern Essex County, bordering Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill, and West Newbury. The town is divided into two precincts, Groveland and South Groveland.-History:...
. She swam there every summer from ages 7 to 12 under coach Nancy Pearson Brennan. During the indoor season, she swam at the Danvers YMCA from ages 7 to 9, and then continued swimming under coach Nancy Pearson Brennan at the Andover-North Andover YMCA from the ages of 10 to 12. At age 12 she began swimming for Seacoast Swimming Association under coaches Amy and Mike Parratto.
She first appeared on the international scene as a 14-year-old in 1987, when she won the 50-meter freestyle and placed third in the 100 m freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...
at the Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
. She won her first world championship in 1991, as part of the USA's winning 4x100 m freestyle relay team, and held the world record in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle when she participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 2006, Thompson received a medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
, and is currently working as a fellow in anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital is the largest hospital of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts. It is directly adjacent to Harvard Medical School of which it is the second largest teaching affiliate with 793 beds...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
1992 Olympics
Thought to be at the height of her competitive career at the time, Thompson was expected to win up to five gold medals at those Olympics. However, she failed to qualify for the final in the 200 m freestyle, finished a disappointing fifth in the 50, and finished second in the 100 m, where she was beaten by Zhuang Yong of China. Thompson won two gold medals as part of the 4x100 m free and 4x100 m medley teams. Considerable controversy was raised after the 100 m freestyle when the U.S. team speculated on the loose doping policy standards in Barcelona—at that time the event winner did not have a mandatory doping test—only the second and fourth-place finishers were tested, based on a random draw. Thompson and her teammates believed that the Olympic champion should be tested and that rule was changed a few months later when 9 members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for steroid use.University years
Thompson continued her career as a part of the U.S. team and a member of the Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
swimming team, and continued to rank among the world's best swimmers for the next four years. During Thompson's four years at Stanford, she was a member of four NCAA championship teams, considered to be some of the most dominant collegiate teams in NCAA history. During that time, Thompson amassed nineteen individual and relay NCAA titles. However, a poor performance at the 1996 Olympic Trials kept her from competing in any individual event at that year's Games in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Despite this, she competed in three gold-medal winning relay teams at the Olympics; the 4x100 m freestyle, 4x100 m medley, and 4x200 m freestyle.
Between 1997 and 1999, Thompson won eight more world championship titles, including three in a row in the 100 m freestyle. At the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
she won a bronze in the 100 m freestyle and was fifth in the 100 m butterfly. But in the relay events, she swam the anchor leg in helping the USA defend its titles in the 4x100 m freestyle and the 4x200 m freestyle relays. She also swam the butterfly leg in the winning 4x100 m relays. The 4x100 free and medley teams set new world records in the process.
At the World Championships that year, she broke the world record in the 100 m butterfly for the fourth time, winning a qualifying heat in a time of 56.56 en route to a gold medal in the event.
2000 through 2004
Thompson seemingly retired from competition after the 2000 season with 10 Olympic medals, eight gold, one silver and one bronze, and 12 gold medals at World Championships. In 2001, Thompson moved to New York City to begin studying at the Columbia University College of Physicians and SurgeonsColumbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
. However, while attending medical school, she made a return to competition at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Thompson won five medals in two days, setting a career-best time in winning the 50 meter freestyle. At the 2003 World Championships, she would win five medals, including two gold medals.
At age 31, Thompson was the oldest member of the 2004 U.S. Swimming and Diving team, competing in her fourth Olympics in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. She was the anchor member of the 400-meter freestyle relay, where contributed to a national record of 3:36.39 and a silver medal. She earned another silver medal as a member of the 4x100 meter medley relay. During her Olympic career, Thompson won twelve medals, eight of which were relay gold; the most for any female Olympic swimmer in history.
Recent life and work
In 2006, Thompson received a medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and SurgeonsColumbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
. She did her internship at the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
, and she is currently working as a resident anesthesiologist
Anesthesiologist
An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine....
at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital is the largest hospital of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts. It is directly adjacent to Harvard Medical School of which it is the second largest teaching affiliate with 793 beds...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In June,, 2010 she was assaulted when two men attempted to steal her scooter, however she was able to fight off both of her attackers. http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/brookline/2010/06/olympian_allegedly_assaulted_i.html http://wbztv.com/local/jenny.thompson.brookline.2.1780461.html
Thompson married Daniel Richard Cumpelik on September 5, 2010.
Anethesiologist at Maine Medical Center
Accolades and other recognition
She was the 1993 and 1998 USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year, and ranked as the 62nd greatest female athlete of all time in a 1999 poll conducted by Sports Illustrated. She was named by the Swimming World magazineSwimming World magazine
Swimming World Magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in a magazine format as Junior Swimmer in January of 1960...
as the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1998. She was the Women's Sports Foundation
Women's Sports Foundation
The Women's Sports Foundation "is an educational nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King." Its stated mission statement is "To advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity."...
's Athlete of the Year in 2000.
Her adopted hometown of Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
has a public pool named in her honor.
See also
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event