After Accident, Morgan Back in Swim of Things

John Morgan was one of Argentina’s top swimmers in 1980 when his run of success suddenly ended.

A set of stretching bands he was working out with snapped and sent pieces of metal springs flying into his eyes. Morgan lost his vision and was unable to swim again for two years. He spent much of that time in and out of the operating room.

But in 1982, after his family moved to Huntington Beach, Morgan went to a swim meet conducted by the United States Organization of Blind Athletes and, soon afterward, he resumed his swimming career.

“He was really depressed and he became much better when he realized he could swim,” said Morgan’s mother, Josephine. “It is more important to him (than it was before) because he doesn’t feel blind in the water.”

Morgan, 28, is currently competing at the USODA national championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“After the accident, I thought that I really wasn’t going to be able to compete here,” Morgan said. “It means a lot more to me now.”

Morgan, who recently received a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of California Berkeley, also has to make more sacrifices now. He has found potential study time much more valuable since losing his sight.

“It takes me longer to study,” Morgan said. “I feel like there are things I have to take more time on . . . but I really enjoy it (swimming). I’m willing to sacrifice for it.”

Morgan’s sacrifice earned him USODA All-American honors in 1984. It also enabled him to compete with sighted swimmers on the Golden West College team--Morgan qualified for the community college state championships--and at UC Irvine, where he competed on the Anteater team for two seasons.

With someone at the end of the lane to tap him on the shoulder when he has to make his turn and someone to read the time on the stopwatch when he does interval training, Morgan has little trouble training with and competing against sighted athletes. All he needed was someone to show him that it could be done.

“When I hurt my eyes I thought, ‘That’s it. This is it for my swimming career,’ ” Morgan said. “I really wasn’t aware that there was anything out there for blind athletes.

“What I really needed was to see somebody who had done it before.”