By: Jon Cole, Athletic Communications & Marketing Director

Due in large part to wealthy philanthropists Evangelos and Konstantinos Zappas, who funded the renovation of Panathinaiko Stadium, which served as the site of the 1896 Summer Olympics, the modern Olympics were born.

Among the key influencers in the creation of the modern Olympics was Pierre de Coubertin, who was inspired by William Penny Brookes, a trained physician who found that the best way to prevent illness was through exercise. Coubertin played a key role in the creation of the International Olympic Committee, different from others who had created Olympic contests within their own countries, with ideas centralized on promoting peace, athletic competitions that could span across cultures and minimizing the chance of wars.

Another key ideology of Coubertin was that competition itself, while overcoming the opposition, was greater than that of winning. He once said "the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

In my 24-year career of working in Athletic Communications I have been able to meet two Olympic athletes—Roy Jones Jr. and Magic Johnson. However, until putting together this story about Salem College's Jane Barkman-Brown, I had never interviewed an Olympian one-on-one.

During the conversation, and in the moments after, my impression of Barkman-Brown was simply—humble. She speaks elegantly about her passion for the sport of swimming, but when she shared memories of her parents and her upbringing it was there that you can see her true heart. After all, when she talks about those that influenced her, she didn't mention another athlete or historical figure, she mentioned her parents.

Her parents, particularly her father, kept her motivated after competing for the Olympics after her first appearance in 1968.

"My thought process was that after 1968 I would retire," Brown described. "I decided to swim in the fall of 1969 at Indiana University under a world-renowned coach there. He didn't want to coach women at all, just the men, so I was very disappointed and just swam for fun.

"Then I went to Salem in winter of 1969 and didn't swim until the winter of 1970," Brown reflected. "In 1970, my records hadn't been broken in 100 freestyle and my dad said at the dinner table 'would you want to try again?, because I would be surprised if you didn't because of the Barkman in you.' I swam with the Wake Forest men in fall of 1970. Then I came home and swam under Coach George Breen and trained with him in 1971. I also did some land work training with Wake Forest that same year.

"Back then the 14-year-olds were getting the attention and I wasn't," described Brown. "I even got called 'grandma' at some point. I placed 16th at the Summer National Championships in 1971 and realized that I still had it. That was a long way from having one of the top times, but I had lots of encouragement from teammates, coaches and parents that kept me going."

The Foundation of an Olympic Athlete

Q: Names such as Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Simone Manuel are synonymous with USA Swimming by current standards. Who were/was the person(s) that influenced you the most and why?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "My father first and my mother. They brought me up to being the best that I could be.

I also had several coaches in my formative years that made a difference as well. Bob Fitzgerald got me involved in swimming when I was six-years-old and after that was Bill Taylor, who worked with me from ages 7-11. I always remember Coach Taylor because he would walk me to the block to calm my nerves.

Then when I was at the Vesper Boat Club had two coaches Mary Freeman Kelly and George Breen. Kelly competed in the 1952 Olympics and was one of the best women's coaches in swimming history. She was always careful not to show attention to specific individuals, but I was really trying to impress her and grab her attention. She inspired me later, as she did with 10 other individuals, to become a coach because of her.

After Kelly departed Coach Breen, who was also an Olympian, became my coach. He was a four-time Olympic swimmer that competed in both the 1956 and 1960 games. I was lucky that my last two coaches affected us as both athletes and coaches themselves.

In terms of swimmers, an Australian swimmer that I swam the same events as--Dawn Fraser—was impactful. There were American swimmers Donna de Varona (1960, 1964 Olympian) a California girl and one of my best friends in swimming Lillian "Pokey" Watson (1964, 1968 Olympian), who swam the events as me. Both Pokey and I started swimming the same events at age 10 and would follow each other from across the country. Both of them stood out because of not only their swimming expertise, but because I admired them as people because they were leaders."

Q: How many hours per day were you spending in the pool preparing for the 1968 Olympic games? For the 1972 games?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "Four hours each day Monday through Friday and about three hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. I also did pulley weights in my basement that my dad had set up for me. I had an exerGenie, designed for speed. I hardly took any time off because I never took a day off with Mary Freeman Kelly coaching me during the time. She had us doing things way before our time. She was putting cords around our waist for resistance and lots of calisthenics. You would try pull your way across the pool, but not change and have good mechanics. My parents were also very supportive and not pushing and controlling, not timing me at practice."

The 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City

In total there were 5,516 athletes representing 112 nations that made the trek to Mexico City, Mexico for the 1968 Olympics, but there was only one athlete that Salem College focused its eyes upon—Jane Barkman-Brown.

Mexico City had been awarded the Olympics in 1963, beating out competitors from Detroit; Lynn, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Mexico City games were highlighted by a number of key events, including George Foreman winning the gold medal in the heavyweight boxing division, the highest elevation above sea level in Olympic history (7,350 feet) and the first time that East Germany and West Germany would compete as separate teams.

Another monumental event came following the men's 200-meter race when two members of the USA Track team (Tommie Smith and John Carlos) took a stand for civil rights by raising their fists, covered in black gloves while wearing black socks to represent black poverty, during The Star Spangled Banner.

Q: When you think back to competing for the 1968 Olympics what do you remember most about the Olympic swimming trials and later the games themselves?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "The Olympic Trials were like going to an outdoor track event. There were wooden bleachers with kids and parents all around. In 1968, the Olympic Trials were held at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium from April 24-28. The previous summer, in 1967, I finished first in my event in the National Championship and later competed in the 1968 indoor championships. So I got to the Olympic Trials seeded first, which was a lot of pressure. I got very nervous and qualified first in the trials for the Olympic Trials and that night I finished fourth due to nerves. I missed the chance to swim my best event, the 100 freestyle by 0.05, but did manage to earn a spot on the relay team for the event in the 1968 Olympics. (Complete 1968 Olympic Trial Results)

I had to sit through the remainder of the events at the Olympic Trials because anyone who made the event would challenge my time. I swam the 200 freestyle, which was my off event, and amazingly finished third which allowed to swim the 200 individual freestyle in the Olympics. By the end of the Olympic Trials no one had matched time in fourth in the 100 individual freestyle, allowing me to take part in that event as well.

At the 1968 Olympics I was in a dream world that I even made the team itself. I have two memories from 1968. One was how much I was drawn to track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos. The other was that Jesse Owens was walking around in the Olympic Village, because he came to motivate people, and I was just in awe."

The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich

Barkman-Brown returned to the world stage in 1972 and was one of 7,134 athletes from 121 countries to represent both Salem College and the United States in the Olympic Games held in Munich, Germany. Of the more than 7,000 athletes in attendance, she was one of 1,059 women in the event.

Swimming took center stage throughout the 17-day event as American Mark Spitz set the world record by winning seven gold medals in a single Olympic games. Controversy surrounded a men's basketball game between the United States and Soviet Union, who was awarded a 51-50 victory after judges determined that the Soviet Union captured the win in the final three seconds.

ABC, which broadcasted the games, also played a key role in the Olympics. On the one hand there were two US sprinters—Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson—who witnessed the 100-meter dash from the headquarters that morning. Watching what they thought was a taped replay, Hart and Robinson had actually missed their qualifying race because coach Stan Wright was given the incorrect starting time.

Another key moment that ABC played came on September 5th, when eight members of a militant organization, known as the Palestinian Black September, broke into the Olympic Village and kidnapped 11 athletes, coaches and officials from Israel. The hostage situation, which spanned 18 hours, resulted in two deaths immediately. Later that evening, during an attempt to leave Germany, the remainder of the Israeli hostages were killed and all but three members of the Palestinian Black September militia were killed as they attempted to board a plane.

Q: At both the Olympics that you participated in there were major political events. In 1968 the Olympics had the Black Power Salute from US athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during The Star Spangled Banner and then in 1972 members of the Israeli team were killed on September 5th.

How much did these events change you personally? What do you remember about these events most as they happened?

A: "In 1968, I wasn't aware about what was going on at first. I was good friends with some track athletes from Villanova, so I was able to hear from them about what Smith and Carlos had done as a protest. It made me question why African Americans were berated. After all, my dad worked with an African American man, in Wayne, Pa., at a gift shop and we had tremendous respect for him. I didn't understand why Smith and Carlos were demonstrating at the time, but in retrospect I completely understand and respect what they did.

They were given a lot of grief for what they did, which I think was a shame. In March 2018, Smith visited Penn State and I got to meet him. So I heard his speech there and I had a better perspective.

In 1972, I was finished with all my swimming events and was walking around the Olympic Village. It wasn't long after I came back from the dorm that I wasn't allowed to leave because the hostage situation had just happened. So I remember seeing the tanks entering the Olympic Village, which was harrowing. It was scary because it hadn't been that long since I was out walking in the Village myself. I remember seeing the TV footage with the terrorist with that hat pulled over their head from the balcony. For all of us that was there it was so sad.

ABC's Jim McKay Describes 1972 Olympic Hostage Situation

Mark Spitz got a death threat and left right away because he was Jewish. My mother's father was a Russian Jew so it affected me on a different level. The discussion that we had as athletes was—should the Olympics continue—but as we talked amongst ourselves we said the Olympics should continue because the terrorist didn't want it too. The closing ceremonies were very somber and our families, particularly my family, were happy that we got home safe. I actually thought about going for the Olympics again in 1976. I was stronger mentally, emotionally, physically, so I thought about the 1976 team."

Barkman-Brown Completes Salem Education

Barkman-Brown attended Salem College from 1970 until graduation in the spring of 1974, taking time off to train for the 1972 Olympics. While at Salem, she trained under Coach Leo Ellison and the men's swim team at Wake Forest University. Barkman-Brown was driving to Wake Forest daily to compete in practice under Ellison's direction with the Demon Deacon men's swim team. She graduated from Salem with a psychology degree and an early elementary teaching certificate.

Q: How did you take your Olympic experiences and use them in your studies and personal development at Salem College?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "It went back to my upbringing about being the best I could be. School didn't come natural to me because I needed to relax and could've done better by not relaxing so much on occasion. I could've done better in transitioning my competitive nature as an athlete into the classroom. I loved psychology courses and found them interesting, as my major, and got a certificate to teach at an elementary level. Then I got a chance to teach kids, which I loved."

Life After Salem College

Barkman-Brown served as swim team coach at the University of Tennessee and Princeton University and the assistant men's and women's coach at Old Dominion University. In addition, she was the assistant men's swim coach at Penn State University for 10 years beginning in 1984. Brown has been teaching swim lessons at Penn State for more than 30 years, most recently at Centre Hills Country Club. She has two sons, Dan and Chris, and a daughter, Jen. Brown has taught kindergarten and/or first grade in State College and Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, since 1998.

Becoming a member of Salem Academy & College Hall of Fame

In 2019, Barkman-Brown was recognized by Salem Academy and College when it established an Athletics Hall of Fame to honor exemplary former student-athletes, administrators and others who have been integral to the school's athletics program. Salem's inaugural Hall of Fame ceremony took place in early 2019 and included the induction of six honorees: Chuck Blixt, Jane Barkman-Brown, Dianne Dailey, Sarah 'Sally' Colhoun Engram, Robert Esleeck and Laura Sides Watson.

ADDITIONAL EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW

Q: What techniques would you tell young swimmers to focus on in order to have sustained success in the sport?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "I have gone to many Olympic Trials where the Olympic swimmer alumni gather. My advice to the swimmer and the parents is to keep it fun. Just concentrate on doing your best and refrain from feeling like you are competing against a specific swimmer. Don't compete against them because that is where you lose the fun and keep your goals in mind, not anyone else's. Feel good when you take a couple tenths of a second off, because that is success. That is important to remember."

Q: When you look at the Triad area of North Carolina and the growth that swimming has made with venues such as the Greensboro Aquatic Center and the overall growth in the sport on a community level how proud are you?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "I don't feel that I did anything for that. They hired people at Salem College that instigated that passion for the sport. I can't take credit for that because it doesn't feel right."

Q: In 1972 you were part of a US Swimming team that also featured Mark Spitz. When you think about Spitz, his contributions to the sport and how he enhanced the exposure of the sport, and compare that to the career of Michael Phelps what do you see that was similar in the two individuals?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "I was a tri-captain of the 1972 and got to carry the torch part of the way to Atlanta for 1996 Olympics, while living in Pennsylvania.

Mark Spitz was an incredibly athlete, but he was in his own world. Spitz had a right to be proud of himself, but he wasn't very nice to his team members. You can't compare the two because other than their talent level. I have a lot of respect for Phelps because he has both humanized and given back to the sport itself."

Q: What stood out to you most about Spitz? Did you watch him race in person? Where did you watch him race?

BARKMAN-BROWN: "He was one of the most flexible people that I ever saw in my life. If he stood up straight, being double jointed, arch his legs and his knees would go backwards. I was amazed by that. He was super talented and physically one of the best. I also know that he trained hard."