Mission Viejo Meet of Champions : Biondi, Six Other Olympians on Their Marks

None other than Rowdy Gaines, when he was America’s fastest swimmer, once said, “Who’s Matt Biondi?”

He found out a year later, when Biondi, 19, broke Gaines’ American record in the 100-meter freestyle. Twice. He broke it in the preliminaries of the 1985 U.S. Longcourse at Mission Viejo in 49.24 seconds, and then he swam 48.95 in the finals.

Biondi, who will be one of about 500 swimmers competing at the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions beginning today, once played spoiler at swimming meets. After all, he was known as a water polo player, not a swimmer.

Figuring that water polo was his best opportunity at becoming an Olympian, he competed with the U.S. national team in 1983.

The 1984 U.S. Nationals were Biondi’s first national championships. He was so new to competitive swimming that he hadn’t so much as competed in the Junior Nationals. Only two major colleges, UCLA and California, had recruited him. He wasn’t even one of the 166 swimmers listed in the media guide for the U.S. Olympic trials. So he surprised the swimming elite when he made the 1984 Olympic team as the fourth man on the 400-meter freestyle relay. The team won the gold medal and set a world record of 3:19.03.

Biondi replaced Gaines as America’s fastest sprinter. He became the first swimmer since Gaines to hold the American records in the 100 and 200 meters at the same time.

The record books now are the domain of Biondi, who stands 6-feet 6-inches and weighs 190 pounds. He has set a world record not only in the 100-meter freestyle (48.74) but also in the 50-meter freestyle (22.33). He also holds the American record in the 200-meter freestyle (1:47.89).

“He really did come out of nowhere,” said Jeff Diamond, director of information services for U.S. Swimming, the American governing body for the sport.

“He did surprise some people,” said Terry Stoddard, coach of Mission Viejo’s Nadadores. “Matt Biondi is one of the finest athletes to come through swimming. He has a great combination of size, speed and strength and is definitely one of the better swimmers of all time. He has a chance to be a part of a lot of gold medals.”

Along with Biondi, six other 1984 U.S. Olympians will be competing in the meet: Tiffany Cohen, Susan Rapp, Jeff Kostoff, Jenna Johnson, Amy White and John Mykkanen.

The four-day meet at the Marguerite Recreation Center opens today with the men’s and women’s 800-meter freestyle relay. The rest of the competition continues Friday with preliminary swimming starting at 9:30 a.m. and finals each day scheduled for 5 p.m.

Among the meet’s expected highlights is a showdown between Stanford’s Rapp and Mission Viejo’s Amy Shaw in the 200-meter breaststroke. Rapp holds the American record (2:31.15). Another featured event will be Janet Evans of Placentia racing against Debbie Babashoff of Fountain Valley in the 400-meter freestyle. Then there will be Biondi, 21, against UCLA’s Tom Jager, a former world record-holder in the 50-meter freestyle.

Biondi and Jager have been seeing a lot of each other in the sprints this season. Stoddard says Biondi wins about 70% of the time.

“It goes back and forth, but in the championship meets, Matt seems to dominate,” Stoddard said.

The 50-meter freestyle will be a new event in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. It is a furious sprint from one side of the longcourse pool to the other, no turns involved. Stoddard says it’s comparable to the 100-meter dash in track and field.

For that reason, the 50-meter preliminaries will take place just before the finals. But don’t expect records to be shattered. Both Biondi and Jager have not shaved their bodies and tapered their training because they are not trying to reach their swimming peak until later in the summer, when they hope to compete in international events.

It’s unlikely that Biondi, who lives in Berkeley and swims for Stanford, will be surprising anybody.