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Daniel Kowalski

	Factfile
	Country: Australia
	Sport/event: 200 metres, 400 metres and 1,500m freestyle
	Date of Birth: 2 July 1975
	Coach: Denis Cotterell
	Club: Miami, Qld
	Prospects: Will have to fight to be a part of the top four in the 4x200m relay team

There is no doubt that Daniel Kowalski is one of the best-liked members of the Australian swim team.

Through his camaraderie, team spirit and most of all his results in the pool, Kowalski has become one of the leaders of a squad which prides itself on its unity.

At meets over the past six years, Kowalski has been prominent at the forefront of the Australian cheer squad, encouraging other members of the team in the pool.

This team-orientated attitude has seen Kowalski collect more than one swimmers� swimmer of the year awards.

It has made him just about the most popular member of the team, among both people within the sport and those looking on from the stands.

As a bonus, he is also a damn fine swimmer. And despite battling a fair degree of adversity in the lead-up to the Olympic trials in May, he managed to qualify for the 4x200m freestyle relay team by finishing fifth in the final of the individual 200m freestyle.

This result means he�ll be there in Sydney, barring injury, lining up for his second tilt at Olympic glory.Atlanta

His efforts in Atlanta, where he won medals in the 200m, the 400m and the 1,500m events, put him among elite company as a swimmer of rare versatility.

Although those Games were ultimately disappointing for him, Kowalski was a hot favourite for gold in the 1,500m but was beaten into silver by the brilliant Kieren Perkins, his attitude was always positive, always gracious in defeat.

And given that he came home with a silver and two bronze medals, Kowalski had plenty to be proud about.

Although he has also excelled over 200m and 400m, his pet event is the 1,500m.

But unfortunately for Kowalski, he has been at his peak during the careers of two awesome competitors in the 1,500m - Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett, with whom he now trains on the Gold Coast under Denis Cotterell.

Kowalski has a stack of silver medals in his collection thanks to Perkins in particular. Silver at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships in 1994 and the Atlanta Games behind Perkins.

At the 1998 World Championships he finished third behind Hackett and both Hackett and Perkins finished ahead of him when he came in fourth at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

But throughout that time he�s also been a regular part of Australia�s world-beating 4x200m relay team, holding his own in the company of Thorpe, Hackett and Michael Klim.Injury

For much of the time since Atlanta, Kowalski has battled chronic shoulder problems.

Surgery has alleviated many of these problems, but also robbed him of training time in the lead-up to the trials in May.

He says he came very close to giving swimming away, such was the battle to come back from the injury.

"You continually fight these inner demons, but at the end of the day it was just that competitiveness that kept me going," he said.

"It got to the point where I was sick of doing the same thing day in and day out in terms of the rehab.

"There were days when it was great, you could see some progress, and then there were days when there wasn�t any. It�s just been really inconsistent in the pool."

This put Kowalski in a difficult position - should he go all out for his favourite event, the 1,500m, or save himself for a tilt at the 4x200m relay team where he knew at least six places would be on offer.

Competition for places in the 1,500m was always going to be tough, with Perkins, Hackett and youngsters Craig Stevens and Stephen Penfold in the race.

In the end, his decision to focus on the 200m was a wise one, and helped win him his place on the team for Sydney.Well-rounded

Yet despite his heroics in the pool, perhaps the most admirable aspect of Kowalski�s character is his persona out of the water.

One of the best examples of this was his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the invitation of the Olympic movement.

After his speech, entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal", he returned to Australia saying he would like to spend some time as an ambassador for the UN in his time after swimming.

He plans to undertake this work as a United Nations goodwill sporting ambassador.

His love of basketball meant he was a regular sight in the stands at the basketball in Atlanta and he is one swimmer keen to share the Olympic experience with other members of the broader Australian Olympic team.

Outside the pool he is intelligent and articulate (he is not alone in this regard, most of Australia�s top swimmers share this trait), and a career in the media looks a distinct possibility when he retires from swimming.

All in all, it�s hard to find a fault in Daniel Kowalski�s character and even more difficult to wish him anything other than success.

© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation