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American dream Krayzelburg traveled long road to Sydney
By Nick Charles, CNNSI.com
SYDNEY, Australia -- Lenny Krayzelburg lives in Los Angeles. His story could be a Hollywood screenplay. The Olympic champion swimmer in the backstroke got his foundation behind the Iron Curtain, then his family moved to America. Now he's in Sydney having already won a gold medal for himself and his adopted country. "People say I live an American dream," said Krayzelburg. "I don't know. But I guess when people from the start of the century were immigrating to America their goal was to have a better life and take advantage of the opportunities that America gave. And that's what I've done here in the past 10 years." Krayzelburg's American dream began in the former Soviet Union where he lived the first 13 years of his life. While he hardly misses the anti-Semitism and other clouds his family lived under, this world record holder understands that his foundation for greatness was built behind the Iron Curtain. "Absolutely, the Soviet system is where I learned my basics and I attribute a lot of my success to that system because a young age is where you learn dedication, work ethic, the technique. That's what I learned back there." New obstacles faced Lenny in the U.S. though. He didn't have a coach, he took long bus rides to practice, and he held a job after school to help his family. And he continued to simply outwork everybody in the pool. Krayzelburg made himself great. And he considers being in Sydney swimming for Olympic glory and for the United States all an honor and an opportunity he won't squander. "My three gold medals, that's my very realistic goal right now," he says. "That's what I'm going into the Olympic Games expecting myself to do." World record holder. Gold medal favorite. And one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People". Is there anything this backstroke Adonis can't handle? Ever get water up your nose? "No. I think I did when I was younger, but not anymore." Lenny also said he has occasionally hit his head on the end of the pool. This is the backstroke after all. It hasn't happened yet in Sydney though. He has one gold medal and will shoot for two in the 200-meter later this week.
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