Father & Son REFLECTIONS : For Distance Swimmer Dan Jorgensen, His Dad Is More Than a Proud Parent--He’s the Coach

“Long, strong and smooth stroking,” repeated Niels Jorgensen as he leaned over the edge of the pool.

His 18-year-old son, Dan, stroked. Long, strong and smooth.

“Get the elbow up,” Niels said.

Dan got his elbow up. And kept it up.

It was like the good old days. Or at the least the tough old days.

The Jorgensens--father coaching son--are back together after a two-year separation.

Niels was Dan’s swimming coach from the time Dan was 5 until he turned 16. Then they took a break. During the past two years, Dad and Dan were just father and son.

A couple of months ago, after Dan graduated from Mission Viejo High School and the family moved to San Diego, Dan and Dad were reunited as Dan trained for the World Championship swimming trials in Orlando, Fla.

On June 25, Dan set an American record of 3:49.41 in the 400-meter freestyle. In a sport in which seconds seem as valuable as diamonds, Dan shattered the previous mark of 3:51.01, held by 1984 Olympic gold medalist George DiCarlo.

By winning the 400-meter freestyle and placing second in the 1,500 freestyle, Jorgensen qualified to represent the United States in both events at the World Swimming Championships in Madrid, Aug. 13-23.

“My goal at the trials was to go 3:49 in the 400 meters,” said an optimistic Dan, whose previous personal best was 3:59 in January. “I know that’s a fairly good drop.”

In keeping with his pattern of pacing himself early and finishing strong, Dan was third at the halfway point of the eight-lap race. He was just where he wanted to be.

“I prefer coming on strong,” Dan said. “The last three laps I sprinted as hard as I could. I knew I was going pretty fast. You feel the adrenaline flowing when you do a real good swim. At the end, I touched and looked right away at the board.”

The record belonged to the tall and muscular blond who will attend USC on a swimming scholarship this fall . . . To The Times’ Swimmer of the Year in Orange County for the past two years . . . To the man who helped lead Mission Viejo High to the 4-A swimming title for the 12th straight year this season.

“I remember the strong finish in that race,” said Niels, who attends most of Dan’s meets. “His last 50 (meters) was really strong.”

Just the way they planned it.

Their duet began when Dan was 5.

But Niels’ interest in athletics and his competitive streak was nurtured years before.

Born and raised in Copenhagen, Niels made the Danish Olympic wrestling team as a light-heavyweight in 1964. Illness prevented him from competing in the Olympics, but the drive for excellence was instilled in him.

When Niels moved to the United States in his late 20s, his career path took a winding path. He worked for Volvo. He became a club wrestling coach. He went from being a recreational swimmer to a swimming coach. Niels liked to coach and quickly felt comfortable coaching a non-contact sport such as swimming.

“Sometimes it’s hard to coach a sport you’re really good in,” said Niels, who had been primarily involved with wrestling.

Niels still has a distinct and clipped Danish accent, but he has long since exchanged pins for the crawl. With Niels at the helm, Dan was destined to become a swimmer. A good swimmer.

“I enjoyed wrestling in PE class,” Dan said, “but I never really considered it as a competitive sport.”

While growing up in Connecticut, Dan became an avid competitive skier on the hills of Vermont. When he was 12, Dan opted to dedicate himself to swimming rather than skiing.

“Vermont was too far away to ski as much as you had to,” Dan said.

On to the pool.

Dan practiced six hours a day, five days a week. He practiced for three hours Wednesdays and had Sundays off.

“Did you ever spend that much time with your daddy?” asked Niels. “It’s nice that you can spend that much time with your kid.”

Nice for the father, but often hard on the son.

Dad encouraged and pushed. Dan stroked and swam.

At 6, Dan was a competitive swimmer. At 10, he was No. 1 in the nation in the individual medley, backstroke and freestyle.

“I was a pretty good swimmer right away,” Dan said.

But Niels said, “He was really good right away.”

Are you beginning to get the feel of what was in store for father and son? For coach and son?

“There are problems being coached by your dad,” Dan said. “Little things come about. Sometimes things get taken home. That’s a big problem. Dad is a very tough coach.”

Dad countered: “I’m not that tough. I just wanted him to be good.”

Dan: “Let’s say that Dad is disciplined. He wants us to be tough. He helps more than just being strict.”

Dad: “I tried hard to look at myself as a coach and not as his father. I try to teach everyone the same way.”

Niel’s expression portrayed just how proud he was to have a world-class swimmer for a son.

“And you should see my other son swim,” Niels said.

Lars Jorgensen, 15, competes in national swimming events and expects to swim at Mount Carmel High this year.

“He’s pretty good,” Dan said. “Soon he’ll be able to keep up with me. I’ll have to worry someday, but not right now.”

Right now, Dan is looking forward to competing in Madrid.

“This is my biggest meet I’ve ever been in,” said Dan, who competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984 but finished third in the 1,500 freestyle. The top two finishers in each event qualify for the Olympics. Dan finished more than 12 minutes behind second-place finisher Mike O’Brien, who won the Olympic gold medal with a time slower than he recorded in the trials.

For a brief period in 1984, Dan contemplated competing for the Danish Olympic team. His times would have qualified him easily. And because Niels is a Danish citizen and Dan was under 18 at the time, Dan was eligible to compete for his father’s country.

“We thought about it,” Dan said. “And considered it. It was an idea that had possibilities, but we didn’t go through with it. We wanted to wait so I could swim for an American national team.”

And . . .

“We wanted Dan to make it on his own,” said Niels.