By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff ReporterJANELLE ATKINSON recently backed her will to excel in the pool again with a gold medal winning performance on Saturday at a dual meet between the University of Florida and Kentucky, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Centre, Gainesville, Florida.
Atkinson, a junior at the University of Florida, took gold in the 100 metres freestyle in a time of 51.30 seconds to finish just ahead of her senior teammate Chantal Gibney, who swam 51.80, and freshman Leah Retrum, 53.82, to complete a treble of medals in the event.
What is of even more importance than her victory is the fact that her time is only one-tenth of a second outside the time she did 11 months ago in a dual meet against the University of Alabama, placing Jamaica's brightest prospect at almost a hundred per cent of her previous form.
The Florida Gators went on to defeat Kentucky, showing their dominance in a 7-1 overall victory and a 3-1 South Eastern Conference margin.
Atkinson was sidelined by serious injury to both shoulders which required her to perform surgery. Her speedy recovery, according to her coach, comes from her will to do well.
In a previous interview with The Gleaner, Atkinson assured Jamaica that she was "...going to do my best".
She spoke of her recovery being a slow and painful one but at no time hinted that this was a deterrent.
"It hurts sometimes doing things that I used to do easily, but if I want this I will have to suffer through it," she said.
Atkinson has been the most successful female swimmer over middle to long distances in the English-speaking Caribbean.
The 21-year-old finished fourth in the 400 metre Freestyle at the Sydney Olympics and looked set to better her performance until her stint with injury threatened to rule her out of the upcoming Olympics.
Before that injury she had won three silver medals in the 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle at the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada and two bronze medals over 400 metres at last year's Commonwealth Games in England.
