Evans Wins U.S. Title in 400 IM : Two Other Teens--Blanchard, Kole--Also Victorious

After breezing to another national title in the women’s 400-meter individual medley Tuesday night in the Phillips 66/U.S. Swimming Long Course National Championships, 17-year-old Janet Evans said that she was starting to feel old.

Not that she was aching in her bones or gasping for breath. But it’s not the same as it was in the old days, when she swam in her first long course national meet at age 13. When she was a new kid and hung around with the other new kids, gawking at the stars.

Now when she walks from the awards stand to the interview room, little girls follow along to peek in the windows.

Now she’s the star.

The down side to stardom is that there is no one to push her.

She had some competition when she won the gold medal in the 400 IM during the Olympic Games in Seoul, enough to push her to a U.S. record of 4 minutes 37.76 seconds. Tuesday, she won in 4:39.36 with Michelle Griglione almost eight seconds behind her.

The victory, her first of this meet, puts her on the U.S. team that will compete at the Pan Pacific Games in Tokyo and then in a dual meet against the Soviets.

“It’s kind of hard racing against the clock,” Evans said. “I like to have competition. But what can you do? . . . I want to go faster at Tokyo. But there probably won’t be anyone there, either. I’ll have to do it myself.”

When it was suggested that she might get some competition when she meets the Soviets in Atlanta, she brightened.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “There is a Soviet girl who has a really fast 400 IM. I hadn’t thought about that.”

Asked if the excitement and the competition of the Olympic Games made everything else seem like a letdown, Evans answered with her trademark smile and shrug: “The Olympics only come around every four years, and there are a lot of other meets in between that.”

Two 16-year-olds won the other women’s events Tuesday night.

Mary Ellen Blanchard (granddaughter of 1945 Heisman Trophy winner Doc Blanchard) won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2:31.59, and Julie Kole (who had won the 1,500-meter freestyle Monday) won the women’s 200-meter freestyle in 2:00.95.

Rich Schroeder, 27, a swimmer who could tell Evans what it is to feel old on the deck, won the men’s 100-meter breaststroke. Schroeder, who won a gold medal with the 400-meter medley relay team in Seoul, has left his job as an accountant with Price Waterhouse to become a carpenter. He prefers the physical work to the hours behind the desk. But his hours for weightlifting and training are still limited.

Why does he continue to swim?

“I continue to do it because I thrive on competition,” Schroeder said. “Physically, I don’t think I was ready to go 1:02.4, but, boy, I don’t like to get beat, so I did it.

“I don’t know if (the younger guys) like me hanging around, but I want to keep them honest. They’ll pass me eventually, but they’ll have to work for it.”

Doug Gjertsen, 22, who won two gold medals on relay teams in Seoul, has completed a suspension for his limited involvement in the mask-napping caper in Korea, and is again competing for Longhorn Aquatics. Gjertsen beat fellow Olympian Melvin Stewart in the men’s 200-meter freestyle.

Wade King, who won the men’s 100-meter butterfly, heard Evans saying that she felt old and commented: “How does she think I feel?” King is 22 and is just now starting to make his mark.

He was thrilled with his national title and the prospect of competing for the U.S. in Tokyo. So far, the highlight of his career has been competing for the U.S. in the Pan Am Games in 1987--while Evans and company were competing at the Pan Pacific Games in Brisbane, Australia.

King, who swam for the University of South Carolina, explains that swimming there is not as “intense” as swimming in California or Texas or Florida.

Asked if he planned to retire soon, he said: “Not now. Placing the way I did, I’ll get a lot more financial support. I’ll definitely be able to stay in swimming another year.”

Wade’s time (53.72 seconds) was better than the 54.58 recorded in the consolation final by 1988 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Nesty. Because he is from Suriname and is not a U.S. citizen, Nesty, a University of Florida swimmer, was not seeded into the final of this U.S. championship meet.

Competition will continue here through Friday.

Meet Notes

This meet is the selection meet for the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo Aug. 17-20 and most of the swimmers will go directly from Tokyo to Atlanta for the Aug. 24-26 meet (the Alamo Cup) against the Soviet team. The Soviet swimmers will be coming from the European championships in Bonn, West Germany. . . . Mike Bottom, 33, who won the 1974 men’s national title in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 55.5 seconds and went on to a berth on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, made the consolation final of the 100-meter butterfly Tuesday night swimming for the Walnut Creek Aquabears. He finished 15th in 55.44--a tick faster than his ’74 time. . . . Olympian Dan Jorgensen of Blue Fin Swim Team (and USC) was fourth in the men’s 200-meter freestyle.