UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Curry Clashed With Michigan’s Style, but Freestyle at Irvine Is His Speed

Two years ago, Mat Curry was a member of the University of Michigan swim team--a program fast on its way to becoming a national power.

Curry, a Michigan native and a five-time high school state champion, came to the team as a freshman in 1987 with great expectations. But by his sophomore year, his expectations had been reduced to complete dismay.

Troubled by what he called Michigan’s “military-like swim program,” Curry quit the team and began his search for a better atmosphere.

He says he has found that at Irvine.

In one year, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound junior has turned around his once-wayward destiny to one of increasing success. Last year, his first at Irvine, Curry took nearly two seconds off his 100-yard freestyle best--an impressive improvement--and unexpectedly won a Big West Conference title in the 100-yard freestyle. He also placed third in the 100 backstroke.

This year, he figures to become the fastest 100-yard freestyler in UCI history.

Curry, who will compete in the Cerritos Invitational Friday through Sunday, has a best time in the event of 45.11 seconds, which is less than a tenth of a second off the school record of 45.02, set by Kurt Fuchs in 1986. Curry’s time in the 100 backstroke (52.73) also is close to the school record (52.26) held by Artie Williams.

But his turnaround would never have been possible, Curry said, had he not decided to leave Michigan two years ago.

“It’s totally due to Irvine,” he said.

Curry said his problems at Michigan stemmed from the program’s intensity. The coach, Jon Urbanchek, is known for strict methods, but Curry said it was the program’s style that bothered him.

“Everyone was so into it. I mean, like too much,” Curry said. “I really didn’t relate to anyone on the team. I was dedicated, but you had to be more than dedicated. It had to be your life.

“I love swimming, but when it comes to taking over your whole life, well . . . The whole attitude of the Michigan swim team pretty much wrecked my aspirations.”

One of the low points, Curry said, was the team’s required two-week training at the University of Miami during the Christmas holidays.

“We drove straight 24 hours to Miami; we never stopped to eat,” Curry said. “(Urbanchek) said ‘It’s better just to get down there and get back on the (training) program than to stop to eat.’ ” For 24 hours, we ate only gas station food.”

On Christmas, the swimmers got a break--they only had to work out once that day. But New Year’s Eve, Curry said, was when he first seriously thought of quitting.

“On the night of New Year’s Eve, all the swimmers sat around the pool at the hotel and passed vitamin Cs around,” Curry said. “Taking vitamin Cs on New Year’s Eve. That was their way of of making the ultimate commitment. That’s how it was, we weren’t able to leave, we couldn’t go out, not even to dance. That was team commitment (meant) to them.

“I said to myself then that if it doesn’t get better, I’m going to quit.”

Curry said the worst part of being at Michigan, for him, was Urbanchek’s method of pushing athletes by putting them down when they were training hardest.

“I was made to feel like I had no potential the way he talked to me,” Curry said. “After workouts, he’d belittle us. It was like military training. You’d get out of the pool totally exhausted and feeling like you had a great workout and he’d say we were (wimps).

“I went in feeling like I was a champion, but then I was belittled down to where I didn’t even think I could swim.”

Urbanchek, who coached at Cal State Long Beach from 1978-1982, said being tough is part of his style.

“If you can take a little kidding, I don’t think it’s degrading,” Urbanchek said. “One might laugh it off; the other, especially if he’s unhappy and if his self-image is not that great, it can add to the breakdown . . .

“Matt broke down physically, and once you’ve broken down physically, it begins to wear on you until you break down mentally. . . . I could tell he was lost (by) his long face at practice.”

“Michigan is not for everybody,” said Urbanchek, who has guided the program to the past four Big 10 Conference titles. “But at the time, the Michigan program was way over his head. If he had given himself a long-range plan, such as two or three years, (it might have worked out).

“But he got disillusioned, he got discouraged. The training was much harder than he anticipated. I gave him a training plan beyond his capabilities . . .

“Mat made a perfect choice to go out for a smaller school where he could be a contributor. At the University of Michigan, he was just one of 30 guys.”

But Curry says that of the 12 freshmen on the team that year, all but two quit the team. (One who stayed, Brent Lang, went on to become a two-time NCAA champion and a member of the U.S Olympic team in 1988).

“I don’t remember (10 athletes leaving the program), but that’s a good possibility,” Urbanchek said. “That was a very tough year.”

And for Curry, a year to forget.

While some might think that laziness or a poor work ethic led to Curry’s departure from Michigan, Irvine Coach Charlie Schober said Curry is a model athlete.

“His work ethics are excellent,” Schober said. “He’s one of our hardest workers, you can count on him doing well and working hard every time he’s in the pool.”

And in Schober, and the Irvine program as a whole, Curry has found what works for him.

“At Irvine, the atmosphere, the team, the coach . . . Everyone is so supportive,” Curry said. “It’s like after a race, everyone on the team here comes up to you and says ‘Good job.’ Out there, it was like it was expected of you. There wasn’t any emotion.

“When I came out, I was suddenly really happy, really energetic. I think that passed over to the team.”

Perhaps so; at season’s end last year, the Anteaters voted Curry their team captain.

“That was the icing on it all,” he said. “It was like, now, I was really accepted.”

Anteater Notes

Coffee, Tea, or Mulligan? Bill Mulligan’s weekly luncheon at the Irvine Hilton this Monday has been changed to a mid-morning coffee klatch, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The change had to be made to accommodate Monday’s basketball practice, which was moved up two hours to 1 p.m. Irvine (1-3) plays at California Saturday.