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Udesky: At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, sportscasters believed that swimmer Misty Hyman had a slim chance of winning even a bronze medal. But the Phoenix, Arizona native stunned the world when she beat six-year champion Susie O'Neill in the 200-meter butterfly.

Few people knew then that Hyman would not have been standing on the podium receiving a gold medal if it weren't for asthma. I spent a day with Hyman in April 2003.

At this outdoor pool in Phoenix, Arizona, Misty Hyman prepares for her next meet along with two other competitors as her trainer Bob Gillette looks on.

Bob Gillette: Hey, you guys, put down your paddle [boards] and you've got a forward full.

Udesky: Hyman and her teammates are singing their way to the edge of the pool. Watching Hyman shoot across the pool, it's hard to believe that the Olympic gold medalist has asthma. But two inhalers within reach on the diving board are a clear reminder. Hyman has had the chronic lung disease since she was 5.

Misty Hyman: I remember sometimes in the middle of the night my parents would put me in the bathroom, close the door and put the shower on as hot as it could go, so I could get the steam so I could start breathing again. And sometimes you know just sitting outside the shower with the steam would help. I remember panicked nights.

Udesky: Common allergens like pollen and animal hair triggered Hyman's asthma. To treat it, she took pills, used several types of inhalers, and frequently needed a respirator to help her breathe. To ease her symptoms, her doctors recommended that she swim.

Hyman: They said, "Oh, it's a great sport. They learn to hold their breath and you're close to the moisture in the water and for some reason asthmatics do a lot better in the pool then they do running around on land or anything."

Udesky: So Hyman's parents enrolled her in a summer swimming league. Her parents told her that her first swim meets were not easy.

Hyman: I thought I was just like any other kid. But my dad says I had a hard time when I started. I would swim about halfway across the pool. I'd swim to the side, and I'd get out and cry, because I couldn't make it all the way to the end of the pool. So my first goal in swimming was to finish the race.

Udesky: After this initial hurdle, Hyman's swimming improved -- and so did her asthma. In high school she set new national records for the sport. At Stanford University, she went on to become one of the best swimmers in the school's history. At age 21, she won the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

Hyman: When I touched the wall and saw that there was a wand by my name, it was an American record, an Olympic record, that I had beat the favored champion from Australia. In some ways it was a relief -- Oh, my gosh, I've made it! I'm tired, I want to take a nap, and on the other side it was elation, it was elation, exaltation, ecstasy. I was so excited to be there! I can't believe this is actually happening to me. And it was just the culmination of everything I had gone through to get to that point.

Udesky: Here at the Melvin Sines Elementary School in Glendale, Arizona, Hyman shows the video of her Olympic win to fifth-graders with asthma. She tells them she, too, has the lung condition, and their eyes widen in amazement. Several are almost speechless as they try on her gold medal.

Hyman: Do you want to put it on for a picture? (A Latino boy with bright black eyes puts on the medal.)

Udesky: How does it feel?

Latino boy: It feels exciting.

Udesky: Hyman tells the children how she was often sick as a child and that now she only uses two inhalers to control her asthma. Several hands shoot up clamoring for her attention.

Fifth-grader: How do you swim without having an asthma attack?

Hyman: That's a really great question. Swimming really helped my asthma. What happens is when you get older when you've had a lot of asthma attacks, a lot of times your lungs will get damaged inside. ... So they've done x-rays on my lungs, and thanks to the swimming I don't have any scars on my lungs. The other cool thing is because I've swam so much even if I've had one of my worst attacks ... my lung capacity is still better than the average person. ... So the cool thing about that is my asthma is no longer life-threatening.

Udesky: As a spokesperson for the American Lung Association, Hyman regularly speaks to children with asthma. The main message she tries to deliver is that asthma need not be thought of as a disability.

Hyman: It's not so much I can or can't do it, it's how can I do it. The medications are great nowadays. You can manage the asthma as long as you're willing to put forth the effort to make sure you always have your inhalers with you, make sure that you're taking your medication at the right times, that you're seeing your doctor regularly to make sure that everything is okay. I think that it's a little extra maintenance. But I really believe that most people with asthma can be really successful in athletics and in life.

Udesky: The 24-year old Olympic winner is training for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she hopes to show the world that she can defend her title. For Consumer Health Interactive in San Francisco, I'm Laurie Udesky.

First published May 6, 2003
Copyright © 2003 Consumer Health Interactive