SYDNEY – Megan Quann visualizes her entire race. She holds a stopwatch in her hand and, stroke by stroke, goes through the 100-meter breaststroke. With her eyes closed, she says, she can see the tiles on the bottom of the pool. In the comfort of her bed, she can taste the water.

Always in the next lane, pushing her to do better, is Penny Heyns. For more than 90 minutes yesterday, Quann went through this routine to prepare for her final. And today she made seeing believing.

Quann’s body responded to her imagination, lowering her own American record to 1:07.05 to capture the gold. Australia’s Leisel Jones was second and Heyns of South Africa was third. Heyns was the defending Olympic champ and owner of the six fastest times ever at this distance.

But at the U.S. Trials last month, Quann boldly stated that Heyns “was going down” in the Olympics. She held true to her boast, yet did swim to Heyns’ lane following the race to give her competitor a hug. Quann said it was in honor of Heyns being the woman who filled her visions all those times, spurring her to this gold medal.