U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES 1991 : Cleavengers Make a Splash Attempting New Event : Kayaking: In little more than a year, the Camarillo couple have risen into nation’s paddling elite.

It was a courtship perfectly suited for a contemporary episode of “Gidget.”

He was a lifeguard.

She was a lifeguard.

They worked at adjacent state beaches.

He made a telephone call. She picked up the phone.

She spoke. What a heavenly voice, he thought.

Later, they met at a lifeguard competition and became friends. They went sailing. Soon they were spending nearly every waking hour together. And why not?

They shared the same passions, swimming, surf-skiing and each other.

It has been almost six years since that first phone call. Mark and Becky Cleavenger, 28 and 27, are married now, and here is where the story takes a strange twist.

They are still buddies. They train together, learn together and have even found a new activity to consume their time (and money).

A little more than a year ago, Mark tried kayaking and became drawn into the sport by the competition. Two months later, Becky followed suit. Together, they have improved so rapidly that they are now considered among the nation’s best.

In the U. S. Olympic Festival kayaking competition at Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey on Saturday, Mark was fourth in his heat of the 1,000-meter singles, finishing in 4 minutes 4.58 seconds, four seconds behind the fastest finals qualifier.

Later, with North-team partner Brandon Krovoza, he placed fifth in the men’s 1,000-meter doubles in a time of 4:07.67.

Today, Mark is scheduled to take part in the four-man, 1,000-meter race and Becky will compete with partner Lynn Capen in the women’s 500-meter doubles. Neither Cleavenger expects to win.

“There are a lot of people out here better than we are right now,” Mark said. “I guess you could say we’re OK, and very good for beginners.”

And they are, by competitive standards, raw rookies.

Most top paddlers--kayakers and canoers--have been at it anywhere from eight to 10 years.

To compete at the national level after little more than a year in the sport “takes a very unusual person,” said Leslie Klein, a two-time Olympian who is associate commissioner of the U. S. Canoe and Kayak Assn.

“In the kayak, you can get good a little quicker, (because) there is a little less skill involved,” Klein said. “If you were a good swimmer or a surf-ski paddler or an outrigger paddler, you can cross over.”

But only, Klein said, if you:

* Are already in shape.

* Have a strong endurance base.

* Have a good oxygen uptake.

* Have the ability to listen to your body, and . . .

* Know how to eat right.

For those keeping score, that was seven “ifs.”

Mark was a swimmer and water-polo player at Ventura High, Ventura College and UC Santa Barbara. Becky was a swimmer at Newbury Park High and a Division II All-American in the sprint freestyles at Cal State Northridge.

The Cleavengers have learned to kayak under the thoughtful tutelage of Bill Bragg, a formerS. national coach whose “mobile boathouse” makes its way from Ventura Harbor to Westlake Lake and Silver Strand Beach each day for training sessions.

Bragg said he first met Mark three years ago after seeing him surf-skiing around Ventura Harbor. He advised Mark to consider learning to kayak as a way of enhancing his performance in surf-ski races.

Since then, the Cleavengers have become model pupils. “They’ve gone faster than they thought they would,” Bragg said. “Part of that is because of the type of athletes they are--very tenacious.” Bragg said Mark has an outside chance at making the 1992 Olympic team. “He is unbelievably driven,” Bragg said.

They are best-known for their success in Bud-Lite surf ski and International Ironman and Ironwoman competitions. Last year they were members of the North Coast 805 Team that won a 10-event series of board paddling, surf ski and swim races.

As the championship team, North Coast was presented with a new pickup truck, a rather difficult award to split among about two dozen team members. “We sold it and bought equipment for the team,” Becky said.

The Cleavengers continue to surf-ski and have found more success since starting to kayak. “It’s kind of a break,” Mark said. “We’re getting beat all the time on (kayaks) coming into a new sport. Then we go to the Bud-Lites and we win and we get our $30 swimsuits and $30 sunglasses and it’s kind of cool.”

Kayaking attracted the Cleavengers because, as Mark put it, they were tired of being “big fish in a small pond.”

“There are only about 30 guys on the coast that surf-ski and it’s the same with the girls, and only 10 are of real good paddling caliber. In kayaking there are about 150 guys that are real good and the competition is unlimited, all year around.”

The transition from one sport to the other can be difficult. Surf skis are about 12 pounds heavier than kayaks, the races are longer, and they take place in the open ocean.

“In a surf ski, you really have to absorb your body into it and push with your legs, really yank powerfully,” Mark said. “The kayaks are all finesse. You have to go smooth and clean.”

Said Becky: “At races, I’ve heard people comment on how we both paddle the same because we do a lot of rocking. That’s California Surf Ski style. You have to do that on a surf ski and it’s hard to change.”

The Cleavengers have learned kayak techniques by listening to Bragg and watching others race. “We’re actually sort of picking up on the fast people, looking at them and taking videos of each other,” Mark said.

Such a setup might fan flames in some marriages but Mark insists he and Becky are careful to “ingest criticism properly.”

“It’s easier to hear it from (Bragg) than it is from each other,” Becky said. “In the beginning, Mark used to tell me, ‘Oh, do this.’ And I’d do it and then (Bragg) would say, ‘What are you doing?’ ”

Which is the same question asked by many people who live in the houses that surround the Cleavengers’ abode in Camarillo.

There are two boats on the front lawn, two sets of surf skis, the two-person kayak and two sets of single kayaks, plus others they are building in the garage. “Our neighbors are probably getting sick of us,” Mark said. “Sometimes we have it all spread out in front.”

Kayaks can cost up to $2,000 each, so the Cleavengers, with advice from Bragg, are building their own.

Mark works two jobs, Becky has a full-time job and they cut expenses wherever they can. They estimate their first full year of kayaking has cost them more than $1,500 so far. But it could be worse.

Becky’s job involves a substantial amount of airline travel. The couple has used her frequent flyer miles to travel to Lake PlacidY., for the World Trials, to Sacramento for the West Team Trials and Indianapolis for the North Team Trials.

“If it wasn’t for the frequent-flyer miles, I don’t know what we’d do,” Becky said. “Unfortunately, we’re kind of running dry by now.”

Still, she is confident they will find a way to keep going. They always have.

Looking back now, Mark can’t even remember what that first telephone conversation was about.

“All I remember is that she had such a soft, sweet voice,” he said. “And when you’re sweating in your tower and it’s busy and all of a sudden there’s a pretty voice, I was like, ‘Oh, hi. Let’s talk!’ ”