Kunishima Shows Style and Records Second Win : Men: The Cal State Northridge sophomore upsets teammate Ted Hollahan in the 200-yard freestyle.

John Kunishima of Cal State Northridge raised his fist, turned in the water and slammed his arm down for an emotional splash.

It took three days, but he had finally figured out a way to celebrate spontaneously.

There had been previous efforts worth making waves, but Kunishima, who can’t see much farther than his goggles without glasses, always had to wait to be told his place and time.

On Friday night, he solved the problem by requesting the timer in his lane to bark out the essentials as soon as the 200-yard freestyle had ended.

Therefore, he received the good news--that he was a two-time winner at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships--in timely fashion.

Oh, about that battle between Oakland (Mich.) University’s Hilton Woods and CSUN’s Ted Hollahan to be hailed as the top freestyler in Division II:

Never mind.

That distinction--for a day anyway--belongs to Kunishima, who bested both in winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute 37.78 seconds.

Hollahan, the Division II record-holder, was a fast-closing second in 1:38.20 and Woods, the defending champion, was a distant fifth after tiring noticeably in the final 100 yards.

Kunishima’s time was less than a half-second off Hollahan’s record of 1:37.37, set in 1988.

“I was just off on that last turn or I might have had it,” Kunishima said, “but that’s OK. I just wanted to win.”

Kunishima set the early pace with Woods, a three-time champion in the 50-yard freestyle, in hot pursuit. After 50 yards, the CSUN sophomore was only one-hundredth of a second in front.

At the end of 100 yards, Woods held a slight edge, 46.95 to 47.21, but that quickly disappeared.

“Woods just couldn’t take the pace. It was too fast,” Northridge Coach Pete Accardy said. “I was surprised he went after John. He’s basically a sprinter. When he’s done well in the 200 before, it’s because he stayed back.”

With 50 yards to go, Kunishima led Woods by more than a second. But then Hollahan, who had been watching Woods, closed with a rush.

“I saw Hilton go out early and I knew he was swimming way too fast,” Hollahan said. “I knew I passed him and, for a while, I didn’t see anything. Then on the last turn I saw feet ahead of me.

“I’m just glad it was John that beat me and not anyone else.”

Hollahan and Woods will get another crack at Kunishima today in the 100-yard freestyle. Hollahan, who defeated Woods by one-hundredth of a second last year in the 100, is the Division II record-holder in that event too.

Kunishima set a Division II record in the 200-yard individual medley on Wednesday, finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and has several strong legs on relays to his credit. But even a third victory probably won’t gain him honors as male swimmer of the meet.

That distinction likely will go to Andrew Bures of Cal State Bakersfield.

Bakersfield, largely because of Bures’ efforts, maintained its lead over second-place Oakland. The Roadrunners, the four-time defending national champions, have 585 points. Oakland has 501 1/2, followed by Northridge with 288.

Bures is a Czechoslovakian junior champion who has been attending Bakersfield only since January.

He won his third individual title on Friday, shattering the previous Division II standard in the 400-yard individual medley by almost four seconds with a time of 3:54.79.

CSUN’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kunishima, Hollahan, Andrew Waldron and David Lowham finished in 1:23.09, nearly equaling the previous Division II record of 1:22.46. But that was only good enough for third place as Oakland won in 1:21.91 with Bakersfield second in 1:22.27.