Jason Lezak, a four-time gold medalist, speaks to Hinsdale Swim Club members
Jason Lezak, who won eight medals in four Olympic games, spoke to Hinsdale Swim Club members Saturday, participated in a training clinic and signed autographs for swimmers like 8-year-old Jack Baker of Hinsdale. (photo provided)
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a 32-year-old Jason Lezak and his U.S. teammates defeated their vaunted counterparts from France in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay to win gold.
"This was the best race of my life," he told Hinsdale Swim Club members at a special clinic Saturday. "We were going up against a French team that was the favorite. We were not supposed to win this race."
Seconds later, swim club members were watching the race on the jumbotron at the Don Watson Aquatic Center at Hinsdale Central. USA not only won gold, it broke the world record.
"That might be the most incredible relay swim I've ever seen in my life," one of the announcers said.
"That was one of the most unbelievable team efforts we've seen in history," another announcer chimed in.
When the video ended, the young swimmers burst out in applause.
But Lezak, a four-time Olympian, wanted the kids to know success was not the only hallmark of the his 31-year competitive swimming career. It was marked by many years of doubt and disappointment, starting with his first race at age 5, the 25-yard backstroke. It took him a full two minutes to swim the length of the pool.
A year later, the California native broke a 30-year-old county record in the same race. And then, in 1984, his parents took him to the summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
"I knew that one day I wanted to get on that podium, hear that national anthem and get that gold medal," Lezak said. "I showed up to that pool every single day thinking about going to the Olympics, and I worked really hard."
He became one of the fastest swimmers on his team, but gradually he lost sight of his dream.
"I went to being one of the slowest swimmers on my team over the next couple of years," he said. "I wasn't doing what it takes to achieve that kind of success."
Lezak looked around at his high school teammates and noticed they had a different approach.
"They showed up to practice every day with a big smile on their face. They wanted to be there. They were having fun," he said.
He changed his attitude and, with hard work, became fast enough to earn a scholarship to the University of California Santa Barbara. He qualified for his first Olympic trials the summer after his freshman year. Before the race, he began to doubt that he belonged there.
"I was convincing myself how great all these other people were," Lezak said. "I wasn't focusing on myself."
He came in second-to-last.
He went back to college and, feeling that his dream was crushed, found himself just going through the motions and eventually getting kicked off the team. He said he realized despite his disappointing experience at the trials, he could still pursue his dream of being an Olympian. He created a contract listing all the steps he was going to take and presented it to his coach in an effort to get back on the team.
Lezak finished a successful college swimming career and decided to continue training with the hopes of qualifying in two years for the next Olympics. He found himself on similar ground at the trials.
"I still have world record-holders and gold medalists swimming next to me," he said, but he kept the focus on himself. "I knew I could go out there and beat anyone."
Lezak qualified for a spot and went to Sydney in 2000 for his first Olympics age 24. And, as had happened before, the outcome was not what he had desired. The 4x100 freestyle relay team, which had been dominant for years, lost to the home team and earned a silver medal. He did, however, capture his first gold medal as part of the 4x100 medley relay.
At his second Olympics in 2004 in Athens, he won bronze as part of the 4x100 freestyle relay team and gold again in the 4x100 medley relay.
"We came together as a team and smashed the world record, won gold," Lezak said. "When you're on a relay it's not just four people swimming as fast as you can. It's about four people wanting it for each other."
At 28, he easily could have retired. But he still wanted to win gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay and the 100-meter freestyle. He continued training and, when his coach left, decided to be his own coach, leading many to label him old and crazy.
"Nobody believed in me. Nobody thought I was going to do it," he said.
Lezak described cold, 60-degree days in California, drawing laughs from the crowd on a bitter cold day with a high in the teens. But he pressed on.
"At 32 years old, I wound up breaking my own American record and qualified for the Olympic games," he said.
France had four faster swimmers in the 4x100 freestyle relay in Beijing in 2008, but Lezak had two previous Olympic experiences to motivate him. And some amazing teammates, including Michael Phelps.
In the final 15 meters of the final leg, as swimmers had watched earlier, Lezak surged ahead to win the gold.
"We had to go above and beyond what people thought we were capable of to achieve that," he said. "It was an amazing feeling."
He said he looked up in the stands to see President Barack Obama waving at him.
"Cool, the president is waving at me," he recalled thinking. Then reality set in. "He's waving at Michael Phelps, not me."
He won his first individual medal, a bronze, in the 100-meter freestyle, and then it was time to swim another relay with Phelps. If the swimmers won gold in the 4x100 medley relay, it would be Phelps' eighth gold medal in one Olympic games. And they did.
"You guys will probably never see someone win eight gold medals in the Olympics. I was part of two of those races," Lezak said.
He made one final trip to the Olympics in 36, earning a silver medal in the 4x100 free relay. He said he enjoyed soaking in the experience.
"It was about the journey - how hard I had worked, how much I had sacrificed," Lezak said.
He retired at age 36 and since that time has been traveling the U.S. and the world sharing stories with simmer and families.
"I didn't always achieve everything I set out for," he said. "I could have given up many times in my career."
Lezak encouraged the swimmers to work hard, be willing to make sacrifices and be confident.
"One of the biggest things is believe in yourself," he said.
