Swimming / Tracy Dodds : Is This the Next Big Money Sport?

Causing interesting debate at the moment is a series of swimming meets tentatively scheduled for next spring in Canada that would offer $300,000 in prize money. Mark Schubert, Mission Viejo Nadadores coach, told sportswriters in Orange County recently that prize money could change the complexion of swimming.

Obviously, young swimmers with high school and college eligibility left, or swimmers planning to participate in the Olympics, could not accept prize money. But there are trust funds for athletes now, for training expenses, and it would be possible for the national federation, U.S. Swimming, or individual clubs to accept the money.

“I don’t know whether we would even want to compete,” said Ray Essick, executive director of U.S. Swimming. “It would be very difficult for us to have a major team on the road for two weeks in the spring. And if we did compete, we would have nothing to do with the money. We don’t want to compromise ourselves--if that would be compromising.

“What about the exploitation of athletes? Can we ask them to swim for money for a federation? What about the post-collegiate kids who might win five medals? I don’t think we want to get into that.

“It all depends on your philosophy of amateurism.”

It’s all speculative at this stage, anyway, while the Canadian federation continues talks with corporate sponsors as well as the swimming organizations.

Essick is more concerned about the impact of the recently announced National Collegiate Athletic Assn. schedule, which has its men’s national meet on the same weekend as the U.S. Swimming Championships.

“At this point, we can’t change our date (other meets are also already scheduled on other dates) and we can’t pick a national team in the spring if the college swimmers are not at our meet,” Essick said.

NCAA officials told Essick that they wanted to move the swimming meet so that it would not be held at the same time as the men’s basketball Final Four. As if the national media would flock to the pool if not for being busy with a basketball final.

“It’s a serious problem for us,” Essick said. “We might have to break with tradition as we try to come up with a way around it.”

U.S. Swimming broke with tradition when it moved its international meet in January to the first week in December, and made it the U.S. Open. It will include high school, college, club and international competition in a long-course format so that world records can be set.

The U.S. Open will be held at the Texas Swim Center in Austin. Teams from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, Canada, Japan, China, Sweden, Mexico and Switzerland are expected to compete.

Industry Hills Coach Ed Spencer holds the popular opinion that there will be many records set this week in the Phillips 66-United States Swimming long-course national meet at Mission Viejo. Swimmers are competing for spots on teams in the Pan Pacific and World University Games. Both teams will compete in Japan later this month.

“There have been no interruptions in training this year,” Spencer said. “Two years ago, we had the Olympic preview meet for the new pool, and even though all the coaches tried not to make it a major meet, it seemed important because the Russians were going to be there. Last year, we had our nationals right after the Olympics. But this year, I think, the swimmers will be ready to perform very well.

“You can’t beat the weather. And Mission Viejo always runs an outstanding meet.”

Schubert, too, reports that his swimmers are ready. “Everybody is getting their visas, hoping to be going to Japan,” he said.

“It’s an important meet for us, as a club, because we’re trying to break Santa Clara’s record for most team titles. Right now, according to Swimming World, we’re tied at 42.”

U.S. Swimming has Santa Clara with 43 titles. But with three team titles at stake--men’s, women’s and overall--Mission Viejo is likely to be the new leader either way.

Swimming Notes

Sandy Neilson, who won three gold medals in the 1972 Olympics--100-meter freestyle, 400-freestyle relay and 400-medley relay--is making a comeback at 29 with a long-term goal of making the 1988 Olympic team. . . . Pete Accardy, the swimming coach at Cal State Northridge for the last 16 years, was named NCAA Division II coach of the year by the College Swimming Coaches of America. It was the fifth such honor for him. The same group honored Cal State Northridge’s Van Austin as diving coach of the year. . . . Jens-Peter Berndt, who defected from East Germany last January and is now training at Mission Viejo, would like to compete for the United States in the 1988 Olympics. To do that, he would have to be granted citizenship in less than the normal five-year waiting period. He is getting help on that process from Senator Pete Wilson’s office. He would like to get citizenship in time for the world championship trials next June 27.