Tom Dolan - Battled Breathing Problems

Despite his success at competition, Dolan continued to have problems breathing. In 1994 doctors discovered that Dolan had an unusually narrow esophagus. At times Dolan only gets twenty percent of the oxygen intake of an average person. Dolan would often hyperventilate during practice and occasionally faint. To make matters worse, Dolan could not treat his breathing problems with many of the medications that are available for asthma or allergies because of the strict doping rules in competitive swimming. "I'd rather not have asthma," Dolan told Christine Brennan of the Washington Post in July of 1996. "But it has made me tougher, made me stronger."

In 1995 Dolan won three more gold medals, two silvers, and one bronze at the United States Summer Nationals. He also set three American records at the NCAA Championships and was named Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row. These successes, however, were only a prelude to the Olympic Games. In 1996 Dolan trained relentlessly for the Olympics in Atlanta. "Tom just doesn't know how to slow down," University of Michigan swimming coach John Urbanchek told Gerry Callahan of Sports Illustrated in July of 1996. "This is what makes him great and also what gets him in trouble. He can push his psychological limits almost as far as his physiological limits."