Junior Olympic Swimming : Wales Rebounds, Wins 200 Individual Medley

Victor Wales, a Santa Barbara swimmer, can still remember last year in Austin, Tex., when he was buried so far down the list of finishers that you almost needed a drilling crew to reach his name in 2nd place.

Swimming in the same meet--but in a different location--a year later, Wales, 17, won the 200-meter individual medley in 2 minutes 8.61 seconds Friday night in the Junior Olympic Championships at Mission Viejo International Swim Complex. His performance in his first national-level final broke the junior national east mark by almost a second and came within 36 hundredths of a second of setting a junior national record. The rise had been quick.

“This is all new to me,” Wales confessed.

Well, at least Wales had a last year. All Greg Larson has had was since last November, when he began swimming seriously.

When he won the 400-meter freestyle Friday, his time of 4:01.53 qualified him for the senior nationals and was less than a second off the junior national record. It was only the fourth time he had ever swum the event.

Two events later, he helped his club team, Irvine’s Novaquatics, win the 400-meter freestyle relay in 3:33.36, a time just six-tenths of a second off the junior record.

All this happened just one day after Larson had won the 200-meter freestyle and helped the Novaquatics win the 800-meter freestyle relay. And it all happened just one meet after his first “serious” meet--the Los Angeles Invitational.

So what makes an 18-year-old senior at Villa Park High School decide to literally go off the deep end in something he hasn’t competed in fiercely? Well, there’s the likelihood of a college scholarship and . . .

“I feel I’ve had my fun the last few years, so I thought it was time to get serious and hit the water,” said Larson, who has spent past summers playing water polo or working as a lifeguard. “I knew I had the talent for swimming and I really wanted to excel. And my family pretty much is a swimming family.”

Indeed, his father, Lance, was a silver medalist in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1960 Olympics. He helped the 400-meter relay team win a gold. And Lance Jr., his older brother, is swimming for USC, where he’ll be a sophomore this fall. Greg began swimming when he was 4, but it’s only lately he’s become serious. And he’s surprised by his accomplishments.

“My goal was to make the finals in heats,” Larson said. “But I never really expected to win anything.”

He finished seventh Tuesday in the 800-meter freestyle. Larson will compete one more time today, in the 1,500-meter freestyle. Other events in the meet’s final day will be the 100-meter backstroke, 100-meter breaststroke, 100-meter butterfly and 400-meter medley relay. Preliminary heats begin at 10 a.m. with finals following at 6 p.m.

Even Larson’s father has been impressed.

“We didn’t think this was going to happen,” Lance Larson said. “We thought maybe he would be able to make some finals. We were dreaming to make some senior (nationals) cuts. I thought he’d do well in the 200, but the 400 really surprised me.

“The Olympic trials are just a year away, and the way Greg’s going, they’re not out of the question for him. I think there’s something in the genes.”