SWIMMING / THERESA MUNOZ : Times Get Faster After Her Heart Slows

It would strike at any time--the middle of the night, the beginning of practice, en route to class on the USC campus. Without warning, Megan Holliday’s heart would begin to race, up to 170 beats a minute.

The freshman distance freestyle swimmer from London, Ontario, was born with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, and has an extra muscle fiber connected to the upper and lower chambers of the heart that conducts impulses. When the pea-sized extra fiber was functioning, it forced Holliday’s heart to beat too rapidly.

Holliday noticed the symptoms when she was 11. The rapid heartbeats lasted from several minutes to more than an hour, although months would pass without an episode.

Her doctor told her it was only a nuisance that she might grow out of, but after Loyola Marymount basketball star Hank Gathers collapsed and died of a heart condition last spring, Holliday’s mother, Susan, ordered more tests for her daughter.

The tests revealed that Megan is in a high-risk group and could suffer a heart attack at any time.

“I was in shock,” Holliday said. “I thought all along it wasn’t a big problem.”

She was given three options: medication, a catheter ablation procedure or open heart surgery.

Holliday decided on the catheter ablation procedure, which would destroy the superfluous tissue, because it would not require a lengthy recovery. On Aug. 20, a Canadian doctor performed the operation, but he was inexperienced with the technique and it failed.

Upon her arrival in Southern California, Holliday tried medication, but it backfired.

“I had attacks more often and I was dizzy so the university pulled me out of the water,” said Holliday, who had 12 episodes in four days.

“My mom frantically called around to find a doctor who could do the catheter ablation procedure. We found one in Oklahoma City who had a cancellation, and I went on two days’ notice.”

In a 14-hour procedure, the surgeon, Warren Jackman, positioned a small metal electrode into the heart via a catheter. Using a high-frequency electrical current, he destroyed the extra fiber. Five days later, Holliday was back in the water.

“I never really thought about it as my life being in danger,” she said. “The funny thing is, I only worried about not being able to swim. Everyone else worried about my health.”

Although the procedure was apparently successful, there remains cause for concern.

“I still get it going too fast, but after a couple of beats it stops,” Holliday said. “I talked to my doctor (in Los Angeles). He said because I’m tuned to my heart so well I’m going to be on the alert for anything abnormal.”

During Christmas vacation or spring break, Holliday will be retested. Her heart will be stimulated to race to make sure the fiber has not grown back. There is an 8% recurrence rate, but according to Jackman, there is no recurrence after a second procedure.

In the meantime, Holliday is concentrating on swimming.

As a 15-year-old, she won two bronze medals for Canada in the 1987 Pan American Games, but since 1989 she had leveled off--until last weekend.

Even after missing a month of practice, she improved her time by 45 seconds in the 1,650-yard freestyle in the U.S. National Grand Prix meet at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Cal’s Sarah Anderson swam a meet-record 16 minutes 22.82 seconds in winning the 1,650 freestyle Sunday in the Grand Prix meet. Anderson also won the 500 freestyle handily at 4:46.32, and the third-ranked Bears won in the women’s division, beating USC, which is ranked fifth nationally, 1,249.5 to 948.5.

Cal and USC split the four relays, thanks to a strong finish by Cal’s Amy Tidball in the last event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. Tidball was caught by Trojan anchor Lisa Dorman at the final turn, but Tidball inched ahead in the last 10 yards.

“I just held my breath and it really speeded me up,” Tidball said.

All was not lost by Dorman, however. She won the 100 freestyle in 50.87 and set a school record in the 50 with a 23.18.

On the men’s side, Arizona State beat USC, 1,111 to 1,022.5. The Trojans were without five of their top swimmers. Four were benched by Coach Peter Daland for missing practice and Olympian Dave Wharton, preparing for the World Championships, swam only in the relays.

The individual highlight on the men’s side was Glenn Peoples’ 1:59.70 in the 200 breaststroke. The time would have placed him 15th in last season’s NCCA meet, a promising effort so early in the season.

Swimming Notes

Janet Evans had a sore throat and finished fifth in the 400 individual medley and seventh in the 200 freestyle at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis Nov. 30-Dec. 1. . . . In the 100 butterfly, Santa Barbara’s Brian Alderman upset 1988 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Nesty of Surinam and Canada’s Marcel Gery, who is ranked No. 2 in the world.

Arcadia’s Natalie Norberg has come a long way since the U.S. Swimming senior nationals in August, in which she finished 44th in the 200 freestyle in 2:06.46. At the U.S. Open, the 16-year-old from the Industry Hills team won the silver medal in 2:02.83. . . . Texas sophomore Erika Hansen will not be able to compete in the World Championships because of a virus. Longhorn teammate Katy Arris will replace her in the 400 freestyle and Julie Kole, who recently made an unwritten commitment to attend Stanford next year, will swim the 800 freestyle in her place.

Succeeding James (Doc) Councilman is like trying to replace John Wooden, Bear Bryant, or Woody Hayes. It hasn’t been done successfully by the initial successor. No wonder the going is rough for Indiana’s new coach, Kris Kirchner. For the first time since 1956, the Hoosiers lost a dual meet to Purdue. . . . Matt Biondi, Tom Jager and Eric Hansen competed in Flagstaff, Ariz., last Saturday in two heats of the 50-meter freestyle before 325 at the Northern Arizona Natatorium. Organizers hoped for a world record, but the fastest time was Hansen’s 23.08, well off Jager’s world-record 21.81.

COMING MEETS--International: World Aquatic Championships, Jan. 3-13, in Perth, Australia, includes diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. Swim dates are Jan. 6-13 and include first time long-distance (25 kilometers) race in the Swan River. NCAA, Men: UC Irvine Invitational, Jan. 5-6; Men and Women: UC Santa Barbara Invitational, Jan. 3-5; Arizona State Invitational, Jan. 10-13.