PARIS, France — At their home in Ponte Vedra, his parents have saved a very special booklet created by their son in second grade.
"So this is him with a big medal and it's gold," his mother says.
It was a project in school to use magic markers and dedicate a student's writing to someone. Her son dedicated the "book" to her.
Her son, six-time Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy, still chuckles about the drawing. "And the last page is 'I hope my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up.'"
Young Ryan also talked about his dream of breaking a world record someday.
Dreams accomplished. And now Ryan Murphy is in Paris set to win even more medals His two key events are the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke.
Ryan's Mom, Katy, knew her son had talent early on. She watched him win race after race. And she remembers noticing her son's physical build. He had extra broad shoulders. Katy says when her two sons first started swimming their muscles would get a little sore. She says, "I'd massage his (Ryan's) little shoulders," and even though he was two-and-a-half years younger than his brother, Ryan's shoulders "were thick and beefier and wider."
Now Ryan is considered by some to be the best backstroke swimmers ever. The head swim coach at Bolles, where Ryan trained years ago, says Ryan is carving out his place in history. Coach Peter Verhoef says Ryan is "reaching legendary status."
So what makes him so good?
His dad, Pat, gives one key reason. He says Ryan is like lightning off the wall. He says when the whistle blows, and competitors hear 'take your mark," Ryan's reaction time is amazingly fast.
Pat says, "His reaction time is like .51 seconds." That's the time it takes for his feet to fly off the wall. Pat says others take longer. "You'll see a lot of kids at .6 or .7," he said.
Sounds like a teeny fraction of a difference? It is. And it can mean gold or going home with no medal.
Ryan says he's won races and lost races by a sliver. How small a sliver? He points to the length of his finger nail. That's it.
Ryan's family is in Paris to watch him compete. And if you think they surely got tickets for free, that's not the case. It seems that if your son is swimming in the Olympics, you'd get courtesy tickets to watch him.
But Pat shows the Olympic schedule and ticket prices and explains they had to purchase tickets a year in advance. One event can cost 980 euros per single ticket, which translates to about $1,000 in American money.
Ryan's family, including his new wife Bridget, wouldn't miss the opportunity to be there in person and cheer him on.
You can just imagine the images his mom and dad have to see their son now and remember the days when their little boy was just starting to show he could be a star in the pool.
