The Glare of Gold

"I just want to go," Ziegler said in her Manhattan hotel, "and not be noticed."

Instead, on the night of the awards, she straightened her hair, changed into a black dress she bought before O'Connell's homecoming and walked from her Marriott hotel room straight into the center of attention. USA Swimming asked her to sign 100 posters for sponsors, all showing her picture juxtaposed to one of distance-swimming legend Janet Evans. "Before I had only signed autographs once or twice," Ziegler said, shaking exhaustion out of her right hand. "And I only signed them if a little kid thought I was somebody else."

Next Ziegler proceeded to a photo shoot, where a photographer twisted her into a series of poses while Snoop Dogg's "Drop it Like it's Hot" pumped in the background. Then she was whisked into a long, black limo, which delivered her to a red carpet entrance in front of the ballroom where the Golden Goggles were being held. There, a television journalist pulled her aside for a quick interview.

"How does it feel," he asked, "to suddenly be famous in New York City?"

Ziegler paused and looked to her side, where about a dozen other elite swimmers stood and listened in.

"It's pretty strange," she finally said. "This all feels like way too much."

Too Many Demands

Way too much. It's what Benecki had long feared. Too many distractions, too many variables, too many demands on a schedule that can't handle anything but absolute consistency.

According to Benecki, coach of a club team called the Fish, the last several months have been the most trying of Ziegler's career. College visits, national attention and award ceremonies yanked her in a dozen different directions -- none of them involving a pool.

"Before she was just a swimmer," Benecki said. "Now she has to swim and do all this other stuff. It's not like any swimming time can be sacrificed."

Instead, it's sleep, or occasionally schoolwork, that become the victims of Ziegler's schedule. She still practices with Benecki eight times a week and supplements those workouts with physical therapy and Pilates.

On the rare occasion swimming is sacrificed, the sometimes-delicate balance between Benecki (a swimming die-hard) and Ziegler's parents (swimming novices) tips violently. During Ziegler's annual three-week break in August, the entire family spent a week at a remote cabin. Benecki wanted Ziegler to swim at least every other day. With no pool nearby, Ziegler almost never swam.

"That was a major setback," Benecki said. "They learned the hard way that they can't do that anymore. You can take a vacation, sure, but swimming has to be a part of it. She came back out of shape and tired. I think they'll pick a better place to vacation next time."