Swimming : No Fewer Than 140 Applicants for Stanford Job

Since the end of the college swimming season, both UCLA and USC have hired new coaches for their women’s teams. UCLA is hoping that Cyndi Gallagher can improve on the Bruins’ ninth-place finish at the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. meet, and USC is hoping that Darrell Fick can improve on the Trojans’ 25th-place finish. But there’s another change occuring, higher in the standings, that is making a much bigger splash.

George Haines has retired after a long and illustrious career, leaving the Stanford women’s team without a coach.

No fewer than 140 coaches have applied for the position.

Among the applicants is Bud McAllister, the coach of the Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team, which means he is the coach of Janet Evans, holder of three world records.

Stanford is one of the top teams in the country every year, battling Texas and Florida for the NCAA title. In the seven years that the NCAA has been conducting a women’s championship, Stanford has won the title once (in 1983), finished second three times and third three times.

Haines is leaving the program in good shape, with many top swimmers, including Jenna Johnson, due to return next season.

The Stanford job is a real plum.

It is interesting to note that Haines was the coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, and Richard Quick, the coach of Texas, is the coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. The top women’s coaches are among the best and most-respected swimming coaches in the country.

Evans, who has one more year at El Dorado High School before she moves on to collegiate competition, seems to be right on schedule for a superb Olympic showing this September.

Swimming last weekend in the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions, Evans went 7 for 7, winning every event she entered. She skipped the 800-meter freestyle and the 1,500-meter freestyle, two of her three world-record events. She won the 400-meter freestyle in 4:09.45, four seconds slower than her world record but a time that would have earned her a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics. Her time of 4:45.45 in the 400-meter individual medley also would have been good for a silver in ’84.

Because Evans is concentrating on developing her form in the 400-meter individual medley, she swam all four strokes at 200 meters--and won all four races. She also won the 200-meter individual medley.

Obviously, the big meet of the summer will be the Olympic trials Aug. 8-13 at Austin, Tex. But there are several other major events on the schedule, starting with the Pepsi Open this weekend at Charlotte, N.C. Most of the top swimmers who did not compete last weekend at Mission Viejo will be there, including USC’s Dave Wharton, who is training this summer in Germantown, Pa. Also expected in Charlotte are former Olympians Pablo Morales, Betsy Mitchell, Mary T. Meagher and Dara Torres. Additionally, the third and final meet of the Swim to Seoul Series, the Santa Clara International Invitational, is set for July 8-10, and the L.A. Open will be held at USC July 14-17.

Swimming Notes

The U.S. synchronized swim team has already been chosen for the Olympics at Seoul, South Korea, starting Sept. 17. In case you missed it, Tracie Ruiz (Conforto), who won two gold medals in ‘84, came out of retirement in April, 1987, and a year later won the solo spot for the Games. Twins Karen and Sarah Josephson will represent the U.S. in duet competition. . . . The national age-group championships for synchronized swimming will be held June 25-July 3 at the Heritage Park Aquatics Complex in Irvine.

The selection of the water polo team for Seoul is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Most of the players have been on the national squad for several years. Officially, members of the team will be named in August. The U.S. team itself has already qualified for the 12-team Olympic field and has drawn Yugoslavia, the ’84 gold medalist and the defending world champion, in its first game. With the United States and Yugoslavia in Pool B are China, Spain, Greece and Hungary. In Pool A are the Soviet Union, Australia, France, South Korea, West Germany and Italy. The teams will play a round-robin series within each pool, with two teams advancing from each pool to the final rounds. . . . Super sprinter Matt Biondi, who helped California win three NCAA water polo titles, says he’d like to play for the U.S. water polo team when he leaves competitive swimming.

The Olympic diving trials will be held Aug. 17-21 at Indianapolis. . . . Greg Louganis, who won the silver medal in platform diving in the ’76 Games and swept the golds in both the platform and three-meter springboard in ‘84, is expected to sweep again. Bruce Kimball is also back. Former Olympians Michele Mitchell, Kelly McCormick, Megan Neyer and Wendy Wyland all will be competing again. Ron O’Brien, formerly of Mission Viejo and now of Mission Bay in Boca Raton, Fla., is the U.S. coach. . . . The last in a series of tuneup meets for the Olympic diving trials will be held this weekend at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.