During Her Outstanding Swimming

DURING HER OUTSTANDING SWIMMING career, Jenny Thompson claimed eight Olympic gold medals in relay events. But in the 1998 World Swimming Championships, the American found a way to shine on her own.

The 25-year-old swimmer began the meet on a high note, capturing first place in the 100-meter freestyle. Her 54.95 time edged out Slovakia’s Martina Moracova (55.09) and China’s Shan Ying (55.10) for the gold.

Two days later, Thompson excelled in her specialty: the relays. Along with Kristy Kowal, Lea Maurer, and Amy Van Dyken, she won the 400-meter freestyle relay gold medal, setting an American record of 4:01.93 in the process.

But Thompson saved her greatest performance for last. The next day in the 100-meter butterfly prelims, she established a meet record of 58.91, breaking the old mark of 58.98 set by Liu Limin in 1994.

In the finals, Thompson swam even faster. She shattered her own record with a time of 58.46.

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POINT Swimming or running on a relay team means being part of a group. But unless each person carries his or her load, the team loses.

In a loss, it’s easy to point fingers at the slowest person or the one who didn’t meet the coach’s time goal in the race. We blame them for the loss. Or if we’re the slowest—even if we did our best—we blame ourselves.

The Bible says we shouldn’t compare ourselves to other people. Instead, we should test ourselves against God’s standard of excellence. We should carry the load that God has assigned to us without worrying about what he asks from someone else.

The Lord expects us to do this in sports . . . and in life.

GOAL! Think of a time you compared yourself to another person. Did you compare well or did you fall short? How did it make you feel? Inadequate? Prideful? Ask the Father to help you look only at your own actions.