The
box of mementos in Anthony Ervin's closet just got lighter, and the
tsunami-relief effort is $17,100 richer.
Ervin,
who tied U.S. teammate Gary Hall Jr. for first in the 50-meter freestyle at the
2000 Olympics, auctioned his gold medal on eBay. Bidding closed Sunday.
"It's
really easy for anybody to be a good example," Ervin, 23, says of his
decision to give the proceeds to tsunami relief, "and I certainly could
have done a better job in the past. Hopefully, I'm making up some ground for
that now."
Ervin
traveled to Japan with Hall in December to give swimming clinics. Ervin was
considering a return to competitive swimming and mulling what kind of charity
work he could tie to that. A week after they returned to the USA, the tsunami
hit Southeast Asia.
Ervin
began training with Mike Bottom, his former college coach at California, in
January. Ervin last competed at the 2003 world championships.
Ervin
left swimming primarily to focus on music. He plays guitar, sings and composes
in a variety of styles.
"I
thought I wanted to inspire people in some kind of way, not realizing I was
already doing it," he says.
He's
continuing in music but also aiming for the 2008 Olympics, where, perhaps,
another object for the memento collection awaits.
"Right
now, my mentality is that which it was before 2000, which is try to make top
six and put myself on a relay (team)," he says. "I'll be a pretty old
man by then, but if I can stick with it, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to
accomplish that goal."
Posted : 5/8/2005
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