The Colleges / Mike Hiserman : Kubiak Found Trials a Tribulation

Jeff Kubiak knew in an instant that he had arrived too late by an instant--12 hundredths of a second, to be exact. There would be no trip to Seoul, no Olympic moment, for the former Cal State Northridge All-American swimmer. Not this year, and probably not ever.

Kubiak, a gold medalist in the Pan American Games last summer, finished third in his speciality, the 200-meter breaststroke, at the Olympic Trials in Austin, Tex. His time, 2:16.61, was almost a second slower than his mark from the U. S. championships in Orlando, Fla., five months earlier.

The hurt and disappointment set in almost immediately, and has grown progressively worse. “I still don’t like to talk about it,” he said Thursday by telephone from his family’s home in Davis, Calif.

Kubiak had expected to swim about two seconds faster, particularly after swimming so well in finishing fourth in the 100 breaststroke three days earlier. “I didn’t swim smart, but I swam fast,” Kubiak said of his 1:03.27 effort in the 100. “I should have done even better in the 200.”

But after the preliminary round, Kubiak knew he was in trouble. He qualified seventh for the final, which put him in Lane 1, rather than in one of the faster lanes in the middle of the pool.

He also was stunned by the prelim performance of Mike Barrowman, who broke the American record with a time of 2:13.74. It was Barrowman’s personal best by more than five seconds.

“I swam next to him in the morning and in the middle of the race he just all of a sudden took off,” Kubiak said. “It blew my mind. I think maybe that messed up my head for the final.”

Barrowman, of Rockville, Md., repeated his record effort in the final to win by almost three seconds. Kirk Stackle of San Diego took the other Olympic berth, finishing second in 2:16.49.

“I don’t want to take anything away from anybody,” Kubiak said, “but 2:16 should not have made the team.”

Kubiak said he is trying to enroll at Northridge for the fall semester. His major is health education. And he will continue to swim.

“I want to take it slowly and have some fun with it,” Kubiak said. “I’m still on the national team so hopefully I can go on some trips next year.”

Australia, Italy and Japan are possible destinations.

Raising Kane: Mike Kane, former All-American running back at CSUN, never fulfilled his dream of playing in the National Football League. In fact, he never managed so much as a tryout. But he’s had the time of his life in Finland.

Kane is a running back for the Helsinki Roosters and Saturday his performance in the EuroBowl game played at the Crystal Palace in London earned him some highlight time at halftime of a televised NFL exhibition game.

Kane, known as “Sugar Kane” to Rooster fans, scored four touchdowns against the Amsterdam Crusaders and was selected the game’s most valuable player.

New coach: Tim Koth, 24, has been added to the CSUN staff as a graduate assistant for the women’s volleyball team.