Olympic gold medalists make splash with preps

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

First, Doug Broadbent discovered that Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Tom Malchow has overcome asthma to soar in the sport. Broadbent, a junior at Boulder City High, suffers from a severe case of the pulmonary disease.

A newly motivated Broadbent then nearly pulled off the first big upset of his young career by finishing within a body length of Malchow in a 50-meter butterfly exhibition.

Broadbent, 17, will not soon forget what transpired inside the Buchanan Natatorium on the UNLV campus Tuesday afternoon.

"At first, I was kind of nervous because he's, like, twice the height of me," Broadbent said. "At 25 meters, I was right with him. Then he blew me away. It was fun. I figured it would be a good time."

To think he awoke Tuesday figuring it would be just another day.

"The Olympics are my goal," Broadbent said. "I was having doubts for awhile, that I wouldn't have a chance. Now I know that's not the case."

Malchow and Misty Hyman, both gold medalists in the 200-meter fly at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, have been traveling the country to promote the U.S. national team's Duel in the Pool against Australia in Indianapolis in April.

Both aim to inspire future Olympians. A crowd of about 200 listened intently to them at Buchanan, watched the swim-off and then lined up for autographs and individual chats. Both Malchow and Hyman suffer from asthma, too.

Hyman, 23, also battles sinusitis, an ailment of the airways which flared up four months before the Summer Games in Australia and required the attention of a respiratory specialist. The Phoenix native and recent Stanford graduate took antibiotics through the Olympics.

"There was no time to take a few months off," Hyman said. "The biggest thing I try to pass to kids is just turning negatives into positives. That's what I feel has been a big key to my career. Everything hasn't just come easy or natural. A lot of times, I wanted to stop ... and there were times I thought I'd never dig myself out of a hole.

"In the end, though, it's always helped me improve myself, made me stronger. When you fall down, as long as you get up and push yourself harder it's going to turn into a positive. That's my biggest message."

Hyman had the longer margin of victory against seven choice Las Vegas-area high schoolers than Malchow, who was also pushed by Bret Lundgaard, Broadbent's teammate at Boulder City who finished a tight third behind Broadbent.

"I wanted to go hard, but I didn't expect to win," Lundgaard said. "(Malchow's) event is the 200 fly, anyway."

"A lot can happen in a 50," said Malchow, 26. Like Malchow, Broadbent must take deep breaths from an inhaler -- clearing his lungs so they can operate efficiently -- before meets.

When Malchow was seven, his asthmatic condition was diagnosed by St. Paul, Minn., doctors who told him he would never be able to perform in a sport to the level of others. He laughed at them, found his niche in swimming, excelled at the University of Michigan and held the world record in the 200 fly for eight months.

It also netted him a Corvette. Malchow was nine when he saw a picture of his idol, German butterfly champ Michael "The Albatross" Gross, sitting on the hood of his Porsche on the cover of a swimming magazine.

'When I get a gold medal and a world record,' Malchow asked his father, 'will you get me one of those?' The American equivalent, his father said. Tom was rewarded with the silver Corvette in May 2001.

"He was really happy," Malchow told the crowd of his dad. "Never dare to dream."

Broadbent's dreams took flight Wednesday.