U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships : Louganis Wins 1-Meter; Lenzi Not Far Behind

The coming U.S. Olympic trials--and, of course, the Games themselves--may be the pervasive theme of the Phillips 66/U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships at Irvine’s Heritage Park this weekend, but Thursday it was different.

Greg Louganis won the 1-meter springboard title--his 45th national championship, but because the 1-meter isn’t an Olympic event, it didn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of preparations for Seoul.

And because only a handful of divers--two in each event--will make the Olympic team anyway, there are quite logically a bunch of competitors with other things on their minds.

Take Alison Maisch, a consistent though unspectacular diver who finished first in the women’s platform semifinals. She considers herself “a real outside shot” to make the Olympic team.

“I trained for this meet,” she said. “I’m not training for the trials. Too many people are focusing on the trials, and I’m not.”

Or consider Genna Weiss, 16, whose hopes realistically lie in 1992, but who was trying to qualify for the 1988 U.S. trials. She needed to finish in the top eight here, but Thursday she finished 14th, failing to make the cut to 12 for the finals.

“It’s a disappointment,” said her father, Greg Weiss, who sat poolside and calculated her chances with every dive. “But it’s not the end of the world.”

There are other youngsters whose hopes are pinned on ‘92, notably Mark Lenzi, 20, who has been diving only 2 1/2 years. He stood just two levels below Louganis on the award platform after the 1-meter competition.

Lenzi scored 599.43 points to finish third in the 1-meter competition, behind Louganis (656.49) and Ron Meyer (600.32). He only became interested in diving after watching Louganis in the 1984 Games and has made an incredible rise that has caused some to tout him as the future star of U.S. diving.

“You have to recognize that when (the Olympics are) over, we don’t have any superstars,” said Hobie Billingsley, the two-time coach of the U.S. Olympic team who coaches Lenzi at Indiana University. “(Lenzi) is going to be something. He’s going to be our shining hope for ’92.”

Lenzi, who is notable for his still somewhat raw, explosive power, already has impressed Louganis.

“Mark Lenzi--that guy can spin. He’s incredible,” Louganis said. “I’m really impressed by his spinning ability. He’s great. It’s so neat; I have a lot to learn from him, he spins so fast.”

Nor does Lenzi lack confidence.

“I always thought I could do it (become a world-class diver),” he said. “At first, when people told me, I said, ‘Whoa.’ Now I’m starting to believe it. Yeah, why not?”

Diving Notes

Greg Louganis, who was fifth in the platform preliminaries Wednesday, said he “felt good” Thursday. “I was real steady,” he said. “I felt strong.” Louganis accepted his 45th national championship with the modesty that has typified his career. Asked if he thought his record number of titles will ever be broken, Louganis said he hopes so. “I’d like to see it happen,” he said. “I’d like to be alive when it happens.” Why? “Because I’d like to see what it looks like, I really would. I know what it feels like, but I don’t know what it looks like.” . . . 1984 Olympians Wendy Wyland (third) and Michele Mitchell (ninth) both advanced to the women’s platform finals Sunday. Today’s schedule starts with the women’s 1-meter semifinals at 10 a.m. The men’s 3-meter semifinals are at 3 p.m., followed by the women’s 1-meter finals.