Against the Tide - Page 2

“I have been trying to write a book for a while now, but really have no talent at it. My name is Shirley Babashoff. I swam in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic games. I have eight medals, two gold and six silvers. At the 1976 Olympics, the East Germans were taking performance-enhancing drugs and won nearly everything. Even though the East German doctors have acknowledged this, nothing has been done to have the medals returned to the rightful owners. Many women were affected by this blatant mishandling of sportsmanship. To this day the Olympic Committee refuses to do anything. Anyway, I don’t want to write about only this, but of all the training, devotion, and sacrifices it takes to become an Olympic athlete. Thank you for your time.”

She had me at “Babashoff.”

I recognized her immediately as one of modern history’s greatest swimmers, arguably one of the greatest athletes this country has ever produced. I also recalled how she stunned the world by publicly questioning the East German women’s swim team in 1976. So Shirley Babashoff was my mom’s letter carrier? It was like finding out that Michael Jordan reads your water meter. But that’s how I found myself, months later at Babashoff’s house, watching Phelps make sports history, and wondering how 32 years had passed without someone righting a long-ago wrong.

Open the paper, watch the news, or go online these days and count the number of times the word “doping” appears. Whether it’s the ongoing debate about Barry Bonds’ tainted home-run record, or Roger Clemens’ testimony before Congress, or Olympian Marion Jones’ conviction appeal, or a recap of cyclists booted from this year’s Tour de France, or the tempered thrill of watching Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt shatter the 100- and 200-meter records in Beijing, we live in a time when every great performance is suspect. Before all that, in 1976, there was Babashoff, standing with a lit match at ground zero of the explosion.

To the world’s media, she had the courage to point out the obvious: East Germany’s female swimmers had undergone a mysterious physical transformation. Her words carried the clear implication of cheating, and earned her the nickname “Surly Shirley.” She was branded a sore loser and eventually retreated into the private life she leads today.

Still, she’s as striking as she was during her time on the world stage—the blond hair, pretty smile, and mischievous eyes that captivated so many through two Olympics and other swimming championships are all intact. And yet, you rarely see Babashoff on TV or read about her in the papers. Though approached constantly, she avoids the media spotlight. For 20 years she has lived quietly in the company of her son, Adam, a close circle of friends, mostly from the local post office, and a feisty Brussels Griffon dog named Leroy.

But she remembers 1976 like it was yesterday, and she wishes others did, too. She’s not afraid to talk about it, though I’m not sure Babashoff has ever been afraid to talk about anything. But her outspokenness in Montreal clearly took a toll. “Nobody wanted to be me,” she says.