How Accardy Made a Spinner Into a Winner

It was about two years ago that Cal State Northridge swim Coach Pete Accardy found Jeff Kubiak thrashing around in a pool at East L. A. College. The occasion was the state junior college meet, and while Kubiak was swimming for Sacramento City College, Accardy was snooping around, looking for Division II talent.

It wasn’t Kubiak’s skill that caught the coach’s attention. The way Accardy tells it, Kubiak wasn’t so much swimming as he was trying to stay afloat.

Says Accardy, almost sympathetically: “What I was most impressed with was that he wouldn’t give up. He was expending so much energy out there. I knew he had to be better than what I saw.”

Hardly a glowing scouting report.

Making matters worse, Kubiak was scrawny by swimming standards at 5-10, 160 pounds. Four-year schools mostly ignored him. But, diminutive size and seeming lack of talent notwithstanding, Accardy invited him to CSUN anyway.

All Kubiak has done since is win two NCAA Division II titles and set a Division II record in the 200-yard breaststroke. His 2:00.4 at last year’s nationals was sixth best among U. S. collegiate swimmers. Accardy believes that Kubiak ranks among the top 12 in the world in that event.

In just over a year, Kubiak went from mad splasher to world class.

“For the first time,” Kubiak says, “I worked on my technique and efficiency. Before, I was like going wild--spinning everywhere. I didn’t know how to use my energy. And I lifted weights, which I hadn’t done before. I’m more efficient now, but I’m not big or strong. Most breaststrokers are big--they usually have big legs. I have bird legs.”

Accardy attributes Kubiak’s improvement to his improved stroke. But he still seems surprised by his success.

“He’s not an outstanding kicker. He’s not outstanding at pulling. He doesn’t have a lot of arm strength or leg strength. He’s not as strong as I’d like to see him in the turns.

“If you look at him, it’s hard to say what happens out there.”

Next thing you know, they’ll say it’s a mental thing.

Bingo.

“The whole key to his success is his competitive nature,” Accardy says. “It’s mental. Some people, put in pressure situations, don’t perform. Jeff does. When he races, he won’t win every time, but you’ll have to beat him physically. He won’t crack.”

Accardy points to CSUN’s meet with Cal State Long Beach last year. The meet came down to the 200 breaststroke. Kubiak not only won, he had his best time of the year up to that point.

Before the Division II nationals, his best time was five seconds slower than the top-seeded swimmer in the event. At the meet in Florida, Kubiak then beat his best time by more than seven seconds and set a Division II record.

Heady stuff for someone who initially wasn’t going to compete in college. It wasn’t until Kubiak enrolled at Sacramento City College that he discovered the school had a swim team. He’d been competing since age 4, but by the time he was in high school, he had burned out.

So he played water polo. And went scuba diving.

Now he’s looking toward the 1988 Olympics. “If I can hang on and stay in the water for a couple more years, I can make the Olympic team,” he says. “Within a year or two, I think I can be one of the top five in the world.”

Clearly, Kubiak has come along since thrashing away at East L. A. Now it’s his Olympic dreams he’ll try to keep afloat.

Problems surfaced last week when the Azusa Pacific basketball team played The Master’s College. During the half, students at The Master’s had a tag-team, hamburger-eating contest. They ran back and forth on the court scarfing burgers.

The trouble started when the basketball teams opened the second half. First, a player slipped on what was thought to be sweat. When another player hit the deck, a closer look revealed that he’d lost his footing on a blob of mayonnaise.

The game was delayed until a custodian could clear the court of special sauce, pickles, and bits of lettuce.

Cal Lutheran’s basketball team isn’t exactly barnstorming through its 1985-86 schedule. As if the Kingsmen’s 2-14 record weren’t bad enough, Cal Lutheran ranks last or next to last in every NAIA District III statistic.

The Kingsmen are bringing up the rear in team rebounding and margin of victory. Their opponents average seven more rebounds per game; the team has lost by an average of more than six points.

They are next to last in team field-goal percentage, team free-throw percentage, team offense and team defense.

As for the individual stats, only center Steve Cotner is among the district leaders. He is eighth in rebounding.

Offensively, this is the way the individual scoring, uh, breaks down for Cal Lutheran: Darren Ranck, 10.7 points; Cotner, 10.7; Steve Delaveaga, 9.8; Pat Gibbs, 9.8, Lionel Boyce, 9.8.

Reserves Marsha Powell, Tracy Glass and Roselyn Jones have left the CSUN women’s basketball team, according to Coach Leslie Milke.

Powell is off the team because of poor grades, Milke said. Glass left the team for personal reasons and Jones left, presumably, because of a lack of playing time, Milke added.

“Tracy didn’t show up for our game with the University of Missouri Kansas City. Roselyn wasn’t happy with her playing time. We had a team meeting after the Missouri game and she didn’t come. That’s the last we’ve seen of her. I think she felt it wasn’t worth it.”

Even though the Lady Matadors have only 10 players, with another player’s status still in doubt because of grades, Milke isn’t particularly concerned.

“Most of the teams in our conference have only 10 players. I think we’ll be OK. It’s almost better because you can concentrate on preparing for games instead of worrying about who’s not playing.”