Nor could he have known himself as well as he does now. Basically, I put my life in perspective . . . What I've learned about myself is that I'm not just a swimmer. He already owned the world record in the 100-meter backstroke, but he had set it leading off a medley relay a day after Tewksbury had touched him out in '92. I just got beat. ''I never went through a depression.
Greatness only goes so far without grit.
Standing on the medals stand, listening to the Canadian national anthem, I immediately dedicated myself to getting to Atlanta,'' he said. Another man might have called it a career. Some surely would have asked themselves if another step on the medals stand was worth four more years of pre-dawn laps, of the lingering aroma of chlorine, of being seen as obsessive. Yes, swimming is a lucrative sport now for star-quality competitors. Rouse says he can make more competing than he could with his Stanford economics degree.