Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions : This Time, Baumann Doesn’t Jump the Gun

Alex Baumann did not exactly get off to a roaring start in the Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions.

Rolling start would be more like it.

The 22-year-old Canadian, who holds world records in both individual medley events, jumped the gun during Friday’s 200-meter butterfly and was disqualified under the one-false-start-and-you’re-gone rule used in most U.S. meets.

Saturday night at the Marguerite Swim Complex, however, Baumann was swimming one of his specialties and didn’t need to blow off the blocks. In fact, he could have given the rest of the field a head start before swimming his always controlled, graceful, almost lackadaisical-looking race in the 400-meter individual medley and breaking his own meet record with a time of 4:24.37.

That time is almost seven seconds off his world record, but it bettered the 4:24.40 he swam at this meet in 1984 when he was preparing for a double-gold-medal, double-world-record performance in the Olympics.

“That (false start) was not a good way to start a meet,” Baumann said, managing a smile. “But I’m very happy with this time. I did a 4:32 this morning and was kind of wondering what might happen tonight.

“It was a good time, although it hurt . . . it really hurt.”

Baumann’s coach, Dr. Jeno Tihanyi, nodded approvingly.

“It’s supposed to hurt, Alex,” he said, softly.

That’s not the way Mary T. Meagher sees it. Meagher won her second and third races of the meet Saturday, winning an off event (the 400-meter freestyle in 4:15.15) and then coming back less than an hour later to steal first place in the most exciting race of the meet thus far with a 1:00.65 in the 100-meter butterfly.

So how did the world record holder in both butterfly events prepare for Saturday’s action?

“I sat in the sun all day,” she said, showing off her sunburn.

Isn’t that supposed to drain your energy?

“Only if a coach tells you it does,” she said. “The way I see it, the tanner you are, the faster you go.” She proved her theory in the 100 butterfly, catching and out-touching Cal teammate Conny Van Bentum in the last 10 meters. Van Bentum, from the Netherlands, set a national record with a 1:00.75, eclipsing the old mark of 100.96. Van Bentum opened up a lead of half-a-body length after 50 meters, but Meagher’s finish--and perfectly timed touch--were too strong.

Artur Wojdat, a 17-year-old from Poland who has spent the last year training with the Mission Viejo Nadadores, also showed a strong finish in his new home pool, setting a meet record in the 400-meter freestyle. Wojdat’s 3:54.85 bettered Matt Cetlinski’s 3:55.31.

“It is a very good time with 2 1/2 months to go before World Championships (Aug. 18-24 in Madrid),” Wojdat said. “I’m training very hard and am very tired, but I was surprised to find I was not that tired with 100 meters left.”

Another foreign swimmer, New Zealand’s Paul Kingsman, had a big night, winning the 200-meter backstroke in 2:07.61. Kingsman, who finished 10th overall in the ’84 Olympics as a 16-year-old despite battling mononucleosis, is a freshman at Cal.

Stanford’s Pablo Morales also set a meet record, hitting the wall in 55.16 in the 100-meter butterly. In another event, Janet Evans, a 14-year-old from Fullerton, won the 400-meter freestyle in 4:57.02, and Portland’s Michele Donahue won her second backstroke race with a 2:19.78 in the 200-meter event.