At 41, Spitz Finds How Times Flies

All the news that was fit to print about Mark Spitz Saturday could have fit neatly into the bottom of his latex swimming cap.

Yes, a swimming cap. Spitz wore one for Leg II of his over-the-hill-and-into-the-pool comeback, another first for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. He’d never worn one before, and he didn’t wear one for Leg I against Tom Jager two weeks ago, and it wasn’t because they couldn’t find one big enough for his head.

Spitz is a company man, his company being Clairol, Inc., creator of Clairol Option Gray Coverage. For his plunge into the fountain of youth, Spitz has used the stuff to at least look the part. His is the main mane in the publicity campaign (“With Clairol Option, He Already Looks Like a Winner”) and this is the company that bankrolled Spitz’s twin filling of humble pie against Jager and Matt Biondi this month.

Clairol was paying good money for these half-minute spots and it didn’t want to see any coverage over its gray coverage.

But after Spitz swam a turgid 26.70 seconds against Jager in the 50-meter butterfly, he decided to make one concession to age and pulled on a cap to correct that dreaded Spitz handicap--Big Hair Drag.

So that was the story Saturday afternoon at the Mission Viejo International Sports Complex.

Again, Spitz swam the 50-meter butterfly, this time against Biondi.

Again, he lost, this time by an even two seconds.

But this time, he wore a cap.

When there’s news, you write the news.

In his day, Spitz curmudgeonly noted, “we never wore caps. We never wore goggles. We did wear swimsuits that were much bigger than the ones today. Back then, there was a rule that boys’ swimsuits could not be any smaller than four inches on the side panel. Now, the side panel is one inch.”

In his day, Spitz was the fastest man alive in any body of water, winning an unprecedented seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics. Of course, in his day, Spitz was 23 years old.

Now it is Jager’s and Biondi’s day and Spitz, weeks away from his 42nd birthday, has to try all he can to keep up.

“If you recall,” Spitz said, “somebody pointed out that I might swim faster with a cap. I guess they had a point.”

Spitz swam faster, a smidgen faster--26.51 to 26.70. Still, he lost ground. Jager beat Spitz by 1.78 seconds. Biondi swam 24.51 to beat him by two.

Spitz might try adding another piece of equipment next time in the pool--like, say, ankle weights on his opponent.

In this the year of the Dumb Comeback, Spitz has been smarter than most. Unlike Jim Palmer, Spitz chose a sport in which the opposition doesn’t carry sticks. Unlike Bjorn Borg, Spitz opted for a sport in which you can’t look foolish by choosing a wooden relic as your weapon. And even though George Foreman won riches and respect for his 12-round haul against Evander Holyfield, only Spitz can be reasonably sure he will keep all his teeth every time he slips in between the ropes.

But Spitz might have made one wrong turn when he chose Jager and Biondi as his first sparring partners after nearly 19 years of inactivity. Palmer started out by pitching batting practice, Foreman loosened up against a long list of no-name lugs and Borg made his return against one Jordi Arrese, ranked 52nd in the world.

Spitz went after the best from the start. If Borg did it this way, he would have opened against Becker, followed by Lendl.

“He didn’t mess around,” said Spitz’s coach, Ron Ballatore. “This makes it a little tougher, doesn’t it?”

It also makes more money--and for Jager and Biondi, Spitz can thank ABC. TV audiences are conditioned to tune into swim meets once every four years and even Mark Spitz, starring in his adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea, needed a marquee name in the other lane to make this butterfly fly.

But Saturday, Spitz spoke only of the top-flight competition and his “spatial relationship in the pool with the best swimmers in the world.” Of course. And: “I want to know where I stand, if I have to scramble or not. In the Olympic trials, I’m going to be thrown in with a bunch of top athletes. I want to be able to hold my own now and not lose it.”

That is the far-flung goal--the Olympic trials next year. Spitz is attempting to qualify for the 100-meter fly, so he needs to double his distance and come in under 55.59 sometime between now and next February.

Do that and Spitz must race again, in the trials, and to reach Barcelona, he must place in the top two.

Biondi was pure diplomat when questioned about Spitz’s chances.

“I hope I have a chance,” Biondi said. “In 1988, Pablo Morales was the world record-holder and he didn’t even make it to Seoul. That’s because he finished third in the trials.

“For Mark, just to be in the (Olympic trial) finals would be a remarkable achievement. Me, too. Right now, I’m sixth in the world and falling off fast. For both of us, the real challenge is to get back to the finals.”

Everyone’s a cynic nowadays, though, and the before the race, the poolside announcer was polling the audience about which swimmer it supported, Spitz or Biondi. Scattered clapping for Biondi. Huge applause for Spitz.

This was good, the announcer observed, because Spitz “is really gonna need you.”

He did, and he didn’t. Ballatore knows his swimmer and he says Spitz doesn’t discourage easily. “Mark’s got a very high opinion of his ability,” Ballatore noted. “I don’t think this will bother him very much.”

Ego fueled Spitz then and it fuels him now. The only difference today: He has to keep it under his cap.