A native of Arlington, Virginia, Tom Dolan enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1993, where he enjoyed immediate success. As a freshman, he was a member of the Wolverines NCAA championship 800m freestyle relay squad and earned All-American honors in several events. For his efforts, he was named both Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Dolan capped this outstanding season by representing the United States at the 1994 World Championships in Rome where he established the current world record and won a gold medal for the 400m individual medley.

As a sophomore, Dolan continued to dominate and to set more records. At the Pan Pacific Championship, he captured first place honors in the 200m IM and set a meet record in the 400m IM. He continued his excellence at the collegiate level, becoming the first swimmer in seven years to set three American records at the NCAA Championship. As a result, he was named the United States Swimming “Swimmer of the Year” for a second time, and added the NCAA Swimmer of the Year award to his trophy case.

A remarkable career for any swimmer, but more so for Dolan since he suffers from allergies, exercise-induced asthma and a trachea that is only 20 percent the size of a normal person’s. To complicate matters, the drugs that would help alleviate his asthma are on the banned substance list for his sport. Despite these setbacks, he qualified as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in the 200m individual medley, 400m IM and 400m freestyle competitions by winning all three events at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. The rest is Olympic history: Dolan went on to take the gold in the 400m IM.

In spite of these heady successes, Dolan is still an ordinary college student. He shares an apartment with fellow Olympic swimmers in Ann Arbor, Michigan and he enjoys listening to rap music. This year he will take a break from studying for his mid-term exams to celebrate his Irish heritage as the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Alexandria, Virginia.