Brooke Marie Bennett (born May 6, 1980) is an American former competition swimmer and three-time Olympic champion.
Swimming career
1996 Summer Olympics
Bennett's first gold medal came in the 800-meter freestyle race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. This accomplishment, coming days after her grandfather died, was overshadowed by the fact that this was the last Olympic race in the career of swimming legend Janet Evans.
1998 World Aquatics Championships
A new rival emerged for Bennett in the 800-meter freestyle, teammate Diane Munz who had beaten her in two separate races the past couple years. However, Bennett led from the start and held off Munz's late finishing charge to win the 800-meter freestyle gold. She also led the 400-meter freestyle most of the way, but was passed at the end by a swimmer of the controversial Chinese women's team, finishing with silver.
2000 Summer Olympics
At the 2000 Summer Olympics Brooke hit the peak of her swimming career. She won two more gold medals in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle races, with the latter coming in Olympic record time. In the 400-meter freestyle she defeated a strong field that included her teammate Diana Munz who had beaten her at the U.S. Olympic trials, the 1996 Olympic 200 freestyle champion Claudia Poll, and that year's fastest performer, Hannah Stockbauer. Bennett's time was the fastest in the event in nine years.