All Things, Including Cancer Surgery, in Good Time for Shanteau

BEIJING

The team that may be the greatest at these Olympics -- the winner of the most gold medals in any sport for any country -- took the stage Wednesday to ponder its chances. Could Michael Phelps win eight golds or Katie Hoff six? Would Dara Torres, who won her first gold medal in '84, repeat the feat six Olympics later? At the limits of possibility, could the mighty U.S. swim team actually sweep every gold that's up for grabs in the blue Water Cube?

Such a stage might be the perfect opportunity to expose an excess of ego. Yet every U.S. star strayed from his own story to focus on a less gifted teammate -- a 24-year-old from Lilburn, Ga., who, while capable of a medal here, might just as easily miss the finals in his only event.

The swimming hero of these Olympics, at least among his peers, is Eric Shanteau, who had testicular cancer diagnosed two months ago, yet has chosen to delay surgery so he can be an Olympian.

"I lost my grandmother to cancer," Phelps said. "I know it's not an easy battle." So, in the down time in the Olympic Village with too many hours to think, Phelps makes sure Shanteau is "one of the guys in the card games."

Torres remembers when Shanteau stood before the entire team at training camp last month in Palo Alto, Calif., and told everyone his stunning news. "We were all in shock," she said. "You could hear a pin drop in the room. The first couple days after, you really feel bad for him, and then it's like you almost forget he has it, because he doesn't act like he has anything wrong with him. He fits in great with the team. He's so amazing. I look at him, and I cannot believe what he's going through, and he still has that drive to want to be here and be with the team and do his best, and it's just an amazing thing to watch."

Sometimes, even Shanteau can't believe what he's going through, how it's reshaping or revealing his personality, altering his every feeling and choice. Increasingly, he realizes this is the defining moment in his life.

"What I show the public is upbeat. But I'm human. This has been a roller-coaster ride. This isn't the flu. It's cancer," said Shanteau, who would have had surgery almost a month ago if he had finished one spot lower at the U.S. trials in Omaha -- third rather than second -- and not made the team.

"It is on my mind constantly. I can't help it. . . . So, when I get down, these are the people I count on," he said, nodding to his teammates. "As soon as I told them, and for the rest of my life, I know they are going to be there for me. They're taken me under their wings in the fight I'm going through."

Most of all, Shanteau wants a fretful public to know that "I've made an educated decision about this. It's not a stupid decision. If this were life threatening [in the short term], I definitely would not be here. They tell me this is a very slow-growing tumor. Hopefully, there won't be any chemotherapy or radiation. But we won't know that until after surgery."

That surgery, however, will be on Shanteau's terms. After his quest in the 200-meter breaststroke is over on Aug. 14 -- "I think I have a great chance to get on the podium" -- he will take five days off to soak up every iota of an Olympic experience that "I worked for all my life -- 15 years of swimming."