Villa Park’s Larson Accepts Tradition, Follows Family Into Pool

There were times in his life when Gary Larson said he wished he belonged to a different family. Any family, just as long as swimming wasn’t part of its heritage.

You could hardly blame him. His father, Lance Larson Sr., won a gold and silver medal at the 1960 Olympics. He also once held the American record in the 100-meter butterfly.

Larson’s oldest sons were swept into the family’s swimming craze when they were in high school. Lance Larson Jr. later competed for USC, his father’s alma mater, and Greg Larson currently swims for the Trojans.

With all that to live up to, it was no surprise that Gary Larson wanted out of the pool.

“When I was a kid, the last thing I wanted to do was swim,” said Larson, a senior at Villa Park High School. “I remember thinking things like, ‘Why couldn’t I have been born into a baseball family?’ ”

But, in the end, family tradition won out.

Larson, who will compete in the Foothill Swim Games Saturday, is one of the top backstroke specialists in the Southern Section. He finished second to Tom Westcott of Huntington Beach in the 100-yard backstroke in last year’s 4-A meet and hopes to improve on that finish this year.

However, Larson hasn’t followed the usual route to the top.

Unlike most top swimmers, who spend years training with club teams, Larson did not compete until his sophomore year. He competed in club events, just for fun.

Lance and Betty Larson never pushed any of their sons into swimming, especially Gary.

“Of course, our secret hope was that they would end up being swimmers, but we never let them see that,” Lance Larson said. “We never pushed them into the sport. There are so many cases of kids getting burned out. They start training hard when they are 9 years old and they miss out on a lot of life. It’s sad, really.”

The Larsons also were concerned that their father’s Olympic achievements would put too much pressure on the sons.

“We didn’t want them to be intimidated by it,” said Larson, 49. “We wanted them to choose their own life and we were going to support them.”

Gary Larson said that he was always aware of his father’s past, but never really thought much about it.

“It was odd, but I have met a couple Olympic swimmers in the past and I would always try to get their autograph,” Gary Larson said. “Then, later, I would think, ‘Gee, my dad was in the Olympics too.’ But I never asked for his autograph.”

Gary Larson began competing for the Orange Aquatics when he was 5, then switched to the Southern California Aquatic Team when he was 10. However, he didn’t dive head-first into the sport.

Larson trained two days a week at the most and spent the rest of the time pursuing other activities such as baseball.

“Gary always seemed to need a little extra incentive to swim, something to encourage him to go faster,” Lance Larson said. “I remember when he was 8, he was swimming in a meet in Mission Viejo and they were giving pumpkins to the winners. Gary got the idea in his head that he wanted a pumpkin. He ended taking multiple seconds off his time in the butterfly and got it. So, you could see the ability was there.”

It wasn’t until he was in high school that Larson decided to do something with that ability. He had played for a club water polo team when he was in junior high school and continued with the sport at Villa Park.

From there, it was an easy transition back to swimming.

“I had always stayed involved with swimming, loosely involved,” Larson said. “I participated in the junior lifeguard program and played water polo. When I came to Villa Park, my brother and a lot of my friends were on the team. I decided to give it a try.”

Larson developed into a strong swimmer quickly.

As a sophomore, he finished fifth in the 4-A meet in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.70 seconds. Last season he was second with in 52.47, which was less than a second behind Westcott.

This year at the junior nationals qualifying meet, Larson didn’t taper or shave but still swam a 53.54 in the 100-meter backstroke. However, he passed on attending the junior nationals, choosing to focus on the Southern Section meet.

“Gary has developed so much in three years,” Villa Park Coach Jeff Erhlich said. “As a sophomore, he didn’t have the great work ethic, but now he’s really serious. He’s a tremendous workout swimmer. I think he loves to race against the clock more than he does against a person.”

Larson said he plans to continue on the family path by attending USC next year. He has been told he can compete for the swim team.

“I really feel my best swimming is still ahead of me,” Larson said. “I was really blessed to have parents like I have and I’m not just talking about the swimming genes. They let me develop my own interest in the sport.”