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ANN ARBOR, Michigan, April 26. WHEN the Athens Olympics concluded in the summer of 2004, Erik Vendt was ready to walk away from the competitive ranks, prepared to embrace retirement. Now, the two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter individual medley has his sights set on Beijing and a third medal in one of swimming’s most grueling events.
Vendt recently returned to training, and has done so at a place that is stocked with world-class talent. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Vendt is grinding through workouts with Club Wolverine, the squad guided by Bob Bowman and home to Michael Phelps, Klete Keller, Peter Vanderkaay and Davis Tarwater, just to name a few.
According to a Wednesday story in the Detroit Free Press, Vendt was teaching swimming lessons in Manhattan when he got the bug for a competitive return. The second-place finisher in the 400 I.M. to Tom Dolan at the Sydney Games in 2000 and the silver medalist behind Phelps in Athens, Vendt has a rekindled fire for the sport in which he has succeeded at high levels.
"It gave me a new outlook on the sport that I didn't have before," Vendt said in the Free Press article, in reference to his teaching days. "Watching these kids get their faces down in the water – the pure enjoyment they had. That began to rejuvenate my love for the sport again."
Vendt has entered the perfect training atmosphere for a return to the top of the international stage. Each day, he gets to battle with Phelps, the man who has redefined the sport and is the premier medley performer in history. More, Vendt has the chance to go head-to-head with Keller, a scenario that should help the returning star regain his footing in the distance-free events.
"He's a one-of-a-kind swimmer," Phelps said in the newspaper article, written by Jo-Ann Barnas. "I've never seen somebody have so much drive and so much excitement – it's always there. The first week he was here, he held the fastest average for a freestyle set. That's just how he is. He will do whatever it takes. Once he gets in shape, there's going to be some brutal battles between the two of us in the water."
Vendt is scheduled to race at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix in Ann Arbor in mid-May and has visions for the summer of qualifying for the Pan Pacific Championships in Victoria, British Columbia and next year’s World Championships in Melbourne.