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Unsinkable
The tumultuous rise and fall (and rise and fall, and rise) of U.S. swimmer
Katie Hoff, a.k.a. the “Phemale Phelps”
BY CRISTINA ROUVALIS
EIGHT YEARS AGO, KATIE HOFF
was swimming’s
girl wonder. During the U.S. Olympic swimming
trials in Long Beach, Calif.—and onemonth a er
turning 15—she posted the fastest time in the
world for the 400-meter individual medley that
year. The performance earned her the distinc-
tion of being the youngest member of the U.S.
Olympic Team, and reporters and photographers
swarmed her as she le to take on the world in
Athens. But at the 2004 Olympic Games, Hoff
melted under the bright international spotlight.
Shewas so overcome by nerves that she cramped
up midway through her first race, fading to 17th
place and ge ing sick on the deck a erward.
Her coach Paul Ye er knew that most young
swimmers wouldn’t recover from such a public
humiliation, but he also knew that Hoffwas not
most young swimmers. So before she boarded
the flight home to Baltimore, he gave her a pep
talk in the Olympic pool area: “We are going to
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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MAY 2012
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the fan