Father Won’t Press Her Luck

Australian media manager Ian Hanson was at his multi-tasking best Wednesday night.

After the men’s 100-meter freestyle, he guided swimmer Ian Thorpe through the gantlet of television cameras and note pads in the zoo known as the mixed zone, the sweaty place where athletes are interviewed.

Then he hustled back into position just in time to watch another Australian swimmer on a television set.

The life of an Australian swimmer is a bit different from those of counterparts in America. Thorpe is treated like a rock star. Others are covered closely and there seems to be no end to the appetite for news about them, especially at the Olympics. It’s all very much part of Hanson’s life.

But this was not just another swimmer stepping up on the blocks. It was Hanson’s daughter.

Brooke Hanson, 26, was in the first semifinal of the women’s 200 breaststroke and her father’s nerves were in full display -- in front of the international media. She won her semifinal and qualified for tonight’s final with the third-fastest time, 2 minutes 26.43 seconds, trailing only Amanda Beard and Masami Tanaka of Japan.

Anxiety alleviated.

Ian turned, jokingly stuck out his tongue in relief and patted his heart. And just like that, he was back to the day job, standing nearby as Brooke answered reporters’ questions.

This is the flip side of what has often been a difficult journey for the swimming family.

Brooke missed the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta by eleven-hundredths of a second, then failed to qualify for the Sydney Games by 0.81. Dad was at the Olympics working, but she wasn’t. Brooke told Australian reporters she’d come close to quitting, but family support kept her going.

Finally, she made the Olympic team, knocking off world-record holder Leisel Jones in the 100 breaststroke at the Australian trials in March. Here, she made the most of her opportunity and qualified for her first Olympic final on Monday night in the 100 breaststroke.

Ian poured a cup of coffee, settled back, and watched his daughter win the silver medal. Then they shared a big hug.

“I told her how proud I was,” he said.

There were emotions the next day as well.

“I heard a radio package they put together,” he said. “They had a replay of a race from trials, and some really emotional interviews. I had a tear in my eye then.

“We had a special moment after the press conference. We all went on the pool deck and had a moment by ourselves. It wasn’t quite golden, but it was silver.”

Hanson has handled the potentially difficult conflicts with a common-sense approach. After tough losses, Hanson has had one of his aides handle Brooke’s media obligations. “It’s very important. I said to her, right from Day 1, ‘I’m going to treat you the same as I treat anybody else,’ ” Hanson said. “ ‘I can’t do you any favors or anything else. I’m going to treat you the same as I treat Sam Riley and Susie O’Neill,’ who were on that team back then, ‘or Rebecca Brown.’

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster for all those reasons for us.”