Ryan Murphy wrote a book predicting his gold-medal moment – at age 8

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RIO DE JANEIRO – As Ryan Murphy’s mother dug through some old piles of papers last year, she discovered a long-forgotten book that sent tears streaming down her cheeks.

It was a school project entitled “My Swimming Life” that her son had written when he was 8 years old. Scrawled in black marker on the final page was an ambitious but prescient list of goals Murphy had for his swimming career.

“I hope my swimming life continues, and I become an Olympian when I grow up. I hope I will break world records. I want to be the best swimmer in the world.”

Murphy took a big step toward making his childhood dreams come true Monday night when he captured his first Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke. The 21-year-old Illinois native seized control during the second half of the race and touched the wall in 51.97 seconds, well ahead of fellow medalists Xu Jiayu and David Plummer and just three hundredths of a second shy of Aaron Peirsol’s 2009 world record.

With his victory, Murphy extended the United States’ two decades of dominance in the 100-meter backstroke. The Americans have won six straight Olympic gold medals in the event, from Jeff Rouse in 1996, to Lenny Krayzelburg in 2000, to Peirsol in 2004 and 2008, to Matt Grevers in 2012.

“Those guys that have won in the past, those are my idols,” Murphy said. “I grew up watching them. To hear their words of encouragement coming into the meet, that meant a great deal to me. It gave me a lot of confidence that they believed in me to do great things.”

It was no surprise to anyone in swimming circles to see Murphy atop the podium with a gold medal around his neck. This has been a moment he has been building toward since soon after he wrote his mom that book.

At 14, he broke Peirsol’s age-group record in the 100 backstroke. At 17, he swam at the U.S. Olympic Trials and finished fourth in the 200 backstroke and sixth in the 100. Then in college, he swept the 100 and 200 backstroke NCAA titles for each of the past three years.

“Ryan’s one of the most impressive swimmers I’ve ever seen,” Plummer said. “For him to come out of high school as fast as he did, just continue to improve and now obviously be one of the best in the world and the best of all time, it has been awesome to watch. I think it speaks to his character that he hasn’t taken any steps back. He has consistently worked to get better.”

That consistency was evident all summer as Murphy took aim at some of the goals he originally made as an 8-year-old. He swept the 100 and 200 backstroke titles at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He posted the fastest semifinal time in the 100 on Monday afternoon. And he executed his race plan to perfection in the final on Monday night, going out cautiously over the first 25 meters and then turning on the jets during the latter half of the race.

If Murphy continues his backstroke dominance in the 200 later this week, it begs the question whether he’ll consider extending himself to other disciplines in future years. He believes he has world-class potential in the 100 and 200 freestyle, but he fears he’ll never get to show it.

“The hardest part about being a backstroker is the schedule [at the Olympics and World Championships] lines up with basically every event,” Murphy said. “I’d love to try to expand my repertoire, but I’m not sure if I’m going to get to realize that potential.”

If all Murphy does for the next Olympic cycle or two is dominate the backstroke, USA Swimming will gladly take that. He’s a cornerstone of the generation of young swimmers expected to take the place of longtime stars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte as they approach the end of their careers.

Murphy does not remember writing the school project his mom found, but he sees some significance in it beyond merely the nostalgia factor.

“If you get to see the book, the drawings are terrible, but the mentality was there from a very young age,” he said. “That’s part of what propelled me to this stage.”