IN THE SWIM OF THINGS : After Five-Year Layoff El Camino’s Corpus Steps Back Into the Pool

Ron Corpus regrets the fact that he quit swimming five years ago, but the El Camino College freshman is working hard to make up for lost time.

Corpus, 23, spends several hours a day in the pool and his body fat is down to 4%. All the work is paying off, as he has some of the state’s top community college times in the breaststroke this season.

Corpus doesn’t look like a champion swimmer. He showed up for a workout this week with his hair in a ponytail and silver hoop earring in his left ear.

But after his long layoff, the former junior national champion is ready to make a run at winning more championships.

Corey Stanbury, El Camino’s third-year coach, believes Corpus will break school records in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke this season. Those records were set by Todd Douglas, who recorded a 59.5 in the 100 and a 2:11.0 in the 200 in 1989.

Two weeks ago Corpus swam a 1:00.8 in the 100 and a 2:14.4 in the 200. Both times are better than the qualifying time for last year’s state meet.

Corpus ranks second in the state to Merced College’s Justin Nicholas in the 100, his specialty. Nicholas won the state championship in that event three years ago, but sat out the past two seasons.

“This year is an exceptionally good year for the (community colleges) in the breaststroke,” said Stanbury, who coached numerous junior national champions before coming to El Camino. “I think Ron has a great chance of winning a state title and I think he’ll definitely break Todd’s record. He’s that good.”

The Warriors have two other breaststrokers--Mira Costa freshman Mark McCracken and sophomore Bret Johnson--capable of qualifying for the state meet in May, but Corpus is the best hope for a title. He was considered a NCAA Division I prospect after winning several junior national titles for the San Pedro Peninsula YMCA.

Texas A&M;, UCLA and the University of Wisconsin were among the schools that recruited Corpus after he graduated from West Torrance High in 1986.

That year he won the junior national title in the 100 breast in North Dakota. Corpus was also the junior Olympic champ in the 100 and 200 breast in 1984, ’85 and ’86 and he represented the West at the 1986 Olympic Festival in Houston.

But his biggest accomplishment that year was winning the Bay League and CIF 3-A Division titles in the 100-yard breaststroke. It was a big feat considering West Torrance doesn’t have a swimming program and Corpus entered as a free-lancer.

“It shocked everyone to see that someone from West High even entered,” Corpus said. “It was really great.”

Dan Halladay, Corpus’ longtime coach at the San Pedro YMCA, says he was an exceptional teen-age athlete.

“He was so good when he was in high school that he was definitely a Division I NCAA competitor,” Halladay said. “He was highly recruited, but a lot of people are not ready to make the adjustments and the change and that was his case.”

Despite his success, Corpus quit swimming after high school. He cannot explain why he decided to do so, but said his grandmother’s death might have played a role in the decision.

“It wasn’t that I was burned out or anything,” he said. “It was real weird because I did so well, then just stopped. I got sidetracked with life, I guess.”

Corpus spent two years working as a lifeguard and waiter before enrolling at El Camino in 1988 with intentions of swimming again. He says his fiancee, Angela Diaz, persuaded him to get back into competition.

He prepared for a comeback with intense weight workouts and a tough conditioning program. But in October of 1988 he sustained major neck and back injuries in a car accident. His wrist was also badly hurt, forcing him to sit out the 1990 season and undergo six months of physical therapy.

Corpus says the accident helped him in a strange way.

“Mentally I was ready to come back and I couldn’t, so that was hard,” he said. “But I’m more determined now because of that. It’s put the fire into me.”

He says he feels stronger than ever now. He works full time in the physical therapy unit at Torrance Memorial Hospital and he’s taking a full load of classes, but remains one of the team’s most dedicated swimmers.

“I really feel confident and powerful in the water,” he said. “I feel that my strokes are much more powerful now. I don’t know how fast I can go, but I know I can go fast.”

Halladay, a swim coach for more than 20 years, believes Corpus can do anything he sets his mind to.

“He’s always been a great competitor,” Halladay said. “He’s always been real tough because he has a real strong mind-set. Once he sets his mind to do something, you don’t doubt him. He’s very strong-willed.”

Halladay says its not too late for Corpus to earn a Division I scholarship. He believes Corpus will receive offers from several

colleges after completing his career at El Camino next year.

“He’s really matured,” Halladay said. “Now it’s a matter of can he hang in there. He’s definitely Division I material. Really, he always has been.”

Stanbury believes Corpus can win at least one title, in the 100 breast, at the state meet in Cupertino, Calif., May 2-4. Corpus says there’s no doubt he can do it.

“Once I put my mind to something I’m going to keep going till I get it,” he said. “Now I’m even mad that I stopped and. . . . I think that’s helping me go stronger now. I wish I hadn’t stopped.”

At least he’s working hard to make up for lost time.