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The Glare of Gold
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Grow up. Fast.
That's what Katie Hoff did. The 16-year-old from Towson, Md., won two medals at the 2004 Olympic Games and now, she said, she's "acting like a professional." For her one guest at the Golden Goggles, she brought her agent, whom she signed with last month.
"My family decided I needed an agent now," Hoff said. "I didn't want people to think I was, like, a little kid. I'm a professional now, so I wanted that image."
Said Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals (two golds) in Athens last year: "When you get known, swimming becomes something different. You've got to know how to act all the time. You've got to be professional in public. It's hard, and it took me some time, but you basically have to smooth everything over a little bit. You have to act like a public person who people know."
To Ziegler, though, renown and real life remain distinctly separate realms, even if she occasionally tries to fuse them. After she spoke at the Golden Goggles in front of a crowd that included New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, gymnast Shannon Miller and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Ziegler felt important enough to float a daring idea. Maybe tonight, Ziegler suggested to her mother and coach, she could go out in New York with friends and other swimmers.
"What do you think, mom?" she asked. "They're going to some place called Club Bungalow. Can I go?"
Cathy shook her head. "You're only 17," she said. "I think we'd better go to Club Marriott instead."
It was the answer Ziegler had expected, so she turned back to a conversation with a friend at their table in the emptying ballroom.
A moment later, Stu Isaac, the senior vice president of marketing at Speedo, stopped by the table to talk to Benecki and Ziegler, who had visited Speedo's New York showroom earlier in the day. Isaac congratulated Ziegler on her Golden Goggle award, but the topic quickly turned from the swimmer's present to her future.
"I can see it now," Benecki said to Isaac. "You'll have Kate walking into a closet filled with [swim] suits."
"I like that," Isaac said. "I can see that being a nice ad."
