Let's look at some of the winners in the 50 yard freestyle:

I spoke with Adrienne Gibbs, who competes for Team Nation's Capital, just after she won a gold medal. She swam growing up until she was 15, stopped for a while, and then resumed at age 23 when her kidneys started to fail. "I wanted to stay in shape," she said, and when she had her transplant 2 years later, her conditioning and her attitude helped keep her going through all the difficult times.

She received her kidney 12 years ago from her uncle from Germany, and in honor of the gift she has named it "Heineken" after that uncle's favorite beer. A major benefit she sees from the successful transplant is the birth of her daughter, Katharina, now 8 years old, who is attending the games with her mom. "I wouldn't be here without it," she says, hugging her mom. The birth itself was hard on the new kidney for about six months, but it led to "one beautiful child," and their closeness is evident in their frequent hugs. Katharina bears Adrienne's mother's middle name, and Adrienne herself wears her mother's engagement ring, even when competing. "It's my good luck charm," she says. "The only time I've had it off was during my surgery."

She is hoping to follow her gold medals in the 50 yard free, the 100 yard individual medley, and the 100 yard free with the 50 yard backstroke, the 50 yard butterfly, and the freestyle relay. She's a winner.

Tom Glennon, 54, received his kidney 6 years and 8 days ago on his 25th wedding anniversary. His wife, Terry, was the donor.

Tom came to Orlando from Sunnyvale in northern California, but he is no stranger to travel. He came to these games from a work-related trip to Singapore, and immediately following the games it's off to Sweden for 5 days. His wife was unable to attend, but as a consolation they will travel to Paris in October.

A competitive swimmer at Bowling Green University in Ohio, he couldn't swim for 20 years because of his disease: the potassium levels in his blood caused severe cramps. He resumed swimming 5 years ago, and he said that along with seeing his doctors regularly and taking his meds every day, his swimming has helped him the most. He swims about 4 days a week-when travel allows.

If one goal of these games is to demonstrate that transplantation leads to active and successful lives, then that is another way that Tom Glennon is a winner.

Craig Kincaid from suburban Chicago celebrated his 11th wedding anniversary by winning his heat in the 50 yard freestyle with a time that earned him a Silver Medal. His wife was back at the hotel looking after their 2 children, Troy who is 6 and Brett who is 4. Craig received a kidney in 1994 following 2 years of dialysis, and the kids followed soon after.

The kidney donor in this case was Craig's mother-in-law. "No mother-in-law jokes for me," he smiles, "though we do joke about my being 'part woman.'"

After working as a special education teacher, two years ago Craig became Assistant Principal at Carl Sandburg Junior High School in Rolling Meadows. Next year it's on to a new position as Dean of Students at Buffalo Grove High School.

He swims 3 times a week, usually 1 - 2 miles. He does so at 9 p.m. after work. This makes for long days, but he now has the energy to lead such a full life.

Ray Velasco is a veteran competitor, having participated in 5 National Games and 4 Worlds. He's won numerous medals, and he was awarded Male Athlete of the Year at the 1996 games in Salt Lake City.

Like many winners, he is modest about his success, saying that his swimming in high school and his involvement in Masters Swimming gave him some advantages over other competitors. He also surfs and wind surfs to stay in shape.

Ray chooses not to focus on the past, preferring to picture himself as a healthy person looking ahead. He has to search his mind for details about his dialysis and his 1993 transplant (it may have been 1994), though he is both clear and thankful that he received it from his sister, Jill. He does recall that during dialysis when he was very sick he studied a picture on the wall of him in the ocean with the sunset behind him.

He noted that he is 20 pounds heavier than he was at the World Games, and he had only been swimming about 20 times since then. For that reason he is "only" competing in the shorter events this year. When I spoke with him on Saturday morning he had already won 2 Gold Medals, one in the 100 yard individual medley, with 2 events remaining. Winners ask a lot of themselves.

Another celebrated winner is Abby VanNortwick, Female Athlete of the Year at the 2000 Transplant Games where she won 4 gold medals. Now 16, Abby swims with the Quantico Swim Team in her home town of Quantico, Viginia, and she had previous experience with swim teams overseas when her family lived abroad. Here she is competing in 6 events including 2 men's relays where she was recruited when there were not enough swimmers to complete all women's relay teams.

Abby received a heart transplant in December of 1994 when she was 8 years old. But she prefers to talk about the new life she is living now: her friends, her sister Sara, and the two horses she is raising. She is a healthy and happy high school kid.