L.A. Invitational Swim Meet : Evans, Steinseifer Pool Talents on Final Day

The L.A. Invitational Swim Meet tied together the past and the present of American women’s swimming Sunday and, in so doing, unwrapped what looks to be a bright future.

The past: Carrie Steinseifer, who won a 1984 gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle but later quit swimming altogether, won the 100-meter butterfly Sunday as the four-day invitational ended.

The present: Janet Evans, three-time gold medalist at the 1988 Olympics, won the 200-meter individual medley by four seconds after finishing second in the 100-meter backstroke, an event she hadn’t competed in since she was 10.

The future: Steinseifer, 21, and Evans, 17, were among a handful of swimmers to qualify for U.S. Senior Nationals which will be held July 31-Aug. 4 right back at USC’s Olympic Swim Stadium.

Just three months ago, it not only appeared that Steinseifer wouldn’t qualify for nationals, but it also appeared that she didn’t much care. She had quit swimming for eight months because she says the sport ceased being fun.

“I left with the intention of never coming back,” she said.

But she did return, much to the dismay of those opponents she blew out of the water in the 100-meter butterfly Sunday with a 1:03.78. The only swimmer to stay close was top-qualifier Francie Oleary, who finished with a 1:04.07. Steinseifer also won the 100-meter freestyle on Friday.

“It’s great to see her hungry again,” said Pierre LaFontaine, her coach. “I don’t think she ever lost the taste for winning.”

Steinseifer began training again in April, putting her a little behind in training, but, as this weekend proved, a little ahead of her competition. She has flourished as a member of the Phoenician Swim Team, a group that refuses to keep quiet whenever she swims.

“I just missed swimming,” Steinseifer said. “It had provided a lot of excitement and happiness in my life. . . . I still think there are a lot of good swims left in this body.”

In other events Sunday, Andrea Cecchi of Italy, who set a meet record in the 100-meter breast-stroke with a time of 1:04.45 in the preliminaries, was disqualified before the finals for failing to check in after the preliminaries. Richard Schroeder, who finished fourth in the event at the 1988 Olympics, won with a time of 1:04.84.

In the men’s 200-meter individual medley, Ray Looze set a meet record at 2:07.10, and Joyce Lightfoot and Olympian Lars Jorgensen won the 1,500-meter freestyles.