Moravcova said she has her sights set on reaching the Olympic finals, most likely in the 100 butterfly (photo by martinamoravcova.com).

Martina Moravcova is used to finishing first.

She is the first Slovakian swimmer ever to win an Olympic medal (she won silver medals the 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter freestyle in the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia) and surely is the first SMU graduate to represent two nations (Czechoslovakia and Slovakia) in the Olympic Games. She is, along with legends Forrest Gregg, Lamar Hunt and Payne Stewart, a member of the first class ever inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame. She finished first in an NCAA Championship event … 14 times, and became the first SMU swimmer to set a new world record five different times.

Now a different number comes to mind when describing Moravcova: 5.

The SMU swimming legend is heading to Beijing, China, next month to compete in her fifth Olympic Games, where she will swim in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly, in which her best time of 57.2 remains the fourth-best in history.

“What she’s doing is really impressive,” said SMU women’s swimming coach Steve Collins, who will coach Moravcova and the Slovakian team in Beijing. “In the history of the Olympics — in all sports — there’s only something like 70 or 80 people who have qualified for the Olympics five times. That’s since the 1800s, so she’s in an extremely small group.”

Moravcova said that of all her accomplishments — she still holds numerous SMU records, and is one of just a handful of swimmers in NCAA history to win the NCAA title in the same event (the 200 freestyle) all four years of her collegiate career — the most emotionally gratifying is the pair of silver medals she won in Sydney.

“I don’t know if it’s the most impressive, but those are probably the most emotional, the most satisfying races,” she said. “You just don’t get the chance to swim in an Olympics very often — most swimmers never get the chance to do it once. So to do it four times and to win a couple of medals — I’m very proud of that.”

Moravcova will share the Olympic spotlight with American Dara Torres as five-time Olympians (photo by martinamoravcova.com).

Even Moravcova ¬— who will share the spotlight with another five-time Olympic swimmer in American Dara Torres — admits she’s a little surprised to still be swimming at the highest international level at the age of 32.

“Making the Olympics is an amazing experience,” she said, “but when you do one, then you have four more years to go (before the next Olympic year). I went to my first one in 1992 (for Czechoslovakia), and I didn’t know if I’d make another. Now I’ve been to three more (for Slovakia, after Czechoslovakia split in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and I’m going back again.”

Collins said that while he knew he had a talented swimmer when Moravcova joined his team as a freshman, he obviously had no way of predicting the longevity of her career.

“There was nothing then that suggested she’d do this,” he said. “Making the Olympics once is a great accomplishment, but this? No, there’s no way anyone could have known this was in her future.

One of the most dominant swimmers in NCAA history, Moravcova won the 200 freestyle four years in a row for the Mustangs (photo by martinamoravcova.com).

“She’s been very consistent, more than anything. She had really good coaching and development at a young age. She always has been a focused athlete, always been serious about her swimming, and she has taken very good care of herself outside of the pool.”

So Moravcova has made the Olympics for the fifth time, and because of the way the schedule of events is set in Beijing, she will compete in all three events in which she has qualified. But can she be competitive in a field in which some of the competitors will be half her age?

Collins acknowledges that swimming is a sport dominated by competitors in their teens and early 20s, but said ruling Moravcova out of contention would be a mistake.

“I don’t think (Moravcova’s ability to contend for a medal) has been determined at this point, but she’s moving back into contention,” he said. “If she keeps improving the way she has been lately, she should be in the top 16, maybe the top eight. When you get into that group, anything can happen, but she probably needs to be competing at her best times.”

But while some might dismiss Moravcova because of her age, Collins said he thinks it might actually work in her favor.

“There’s not a lot of pressure on her at this point, because it’s a remarkable accomplishment for her just to be in the Olympic Games at this stage of her career, and for her to be a contender like she is … that makes her really special,” he said. “She’ll be in contention, though, because of her experience and her competitiveness. She’s not one of the favorites, the way she was in 2000, but really, this is a great position for her to be in, a really enviable situation.”

Moravcova and her husband, Martin, live in Dallas, and she still trains at SMU, where she just completed her eighth season as a volunteer assistant coach. She said her competitive nature sometimes kicks in when she gets in the pool with the current Mustangs, but she has had to modify her training regimen in recent years because of injuries, including a “messed up” lower back and a labrum that remains torn in her shoulder. She also was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, which results in a hyperactive thyroid, a revelation that almost derailed her competitive career. Having — and solving — the problem might have actually extended her career.

Moravcova (with coach Steve Collins) was in the first class of SMU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees (photo by SMU athletics).

“I had unmanageable fatigue — I felt like I could barely swim 20 yards,” she said. “I thought I was done, because I just had nothing left in the tank — I was like a zombie, 24/7. It seemed like all I did was rest and sleep, and nothing helped.

“But once they figured it out, they took my thyroid out, and that got me back on track. I got back in the pool and I had more passion than ever before, more desire than ever before.”

Moravcova is aware that most feel her age makes her a longshot to compete for a medal, despite staunch support from Collins. “Her times are faster now than they were in 2004,” he said. “Her age is indicative of her abilities, that’s for sure.”

With an eye on the calendar, she said Beijing “probably” is her last go-round at swimming’s elite international competition.

“At the next Olympics, I’ll be 36, and we want to have a family one of these days,” she said. “I say I’ll quit, but it would be so weird not to be here. I’ll probably keep swimming, at least to keep fit, so who knows?”

In the meantime, she has her sights set on a strong performance in Beijing.

“My best chance is in the 100 fly,” she said of her chance at a medal. “If I’m able to drop to the times I used to do, I’ll be competitive. I hope to make the finals, but everything has to come out perfect for me.

“But this is the Olympics — anything is possible.”