NOTEBOOK : Heart Problem Hasn’t Slowed Bevelock

Toni Bevelock is the first to admit she gets uptight when she plays racquetball.

Bevelock, of Santa Ana, is one of the top players in the U.S. Olympic Festival, but she also knows when she gets carried away by her emotions.

She occasionally suffers from an irregular heartbeat, which has bothered her during some matches.

“I’m a pretty emotional person,” she said. “And my doctors say the irregular heart rate is brought on by stress and adrenaline when I play.”

Bevelock, 25, said her heart begins beating rapidly and not at its normal pace. She usually gets it under control by taking several deep breaths.

Bevelock had been taking a drug called Lopresser to help control her heart rate until it was banned last year by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“One of the reasons that they banned Lopresser was the shooters,” Bevelock said. “They would take it to steady their nerves during competition.

“The committee has banned a lot of drugs, even things like NyQuil, because they’re considered performance-enhancing.”

Her doctors have put her on a different medication, one that’s legal under Olympic committee rules.

“It has worked out well,” she said. “I really didn’t trust Lopresser. I was at a disadvantage because it relaxed me too much and steadied my nerves.”

Bevelock learned of her irregular heartbeat in 1985, when she visited a cardiologist while attending Memphis State.

“When I was little, I always thought it was my nerves,” she said. “I lost a lot of tournaments because I couldn’t get my heart rate down. I would get mad about a call or something and it would start. There wasn’t enough time during a timeout to get it back down.”

Bevelock has had no problems at the festival so far. Playing for the East team, she improved to 2-0 by beating the South’s Jackie Paraiso of San Diego, 15-6, 10-15, 11-5, Monday at USC’s Lyons Center.

The game’s the thing: Jason Likins has lived a charmed life as the son of a toy manufacturing executive.

“It’s great,” said Likins, a 1986 graduate of Corona del Mar High School. “When I was a kid, I got to test out all the new toys before they went to the stores.”

Likins is now 23, but he’s still playing--as a reserve on the West water polo team at the Festival.

Water polo’s only one of several interests for Likins. In his Festival biography, he lists his hobbies as mountain biking and horticulture.

Horticulture?

“Yeah,” he said. “I like to plant plants.

“I’m a geography major at UC Santa Barbara, and that’s part of my studies.”

Likins also is a pretty good rugby player. He has the battle scars to prove it--a broken collar bone, two broken wrists and bruised shins.

“That’s one reason I went with water polo,” he said. “It’s a lot safer and easier on my body.”

Likins started playing rugby on a club team in Hong Kong with his father, Jack, who worked at the Mattel Toy factory there for four years.

“They didn’t have any sports like water polo or football over there,” Likins said. “The Chinese didn’t play much rugby, but a lot of the European kids who were living there did. I think rugby was good for me. It’s a physical sport, just like water polo.”

In 1984, Jack Likins was transferred from Hong Kong to the Mattel office in Southern California. Jason spent his final two years of high school at Corona del Mar.

An accomplished swimmer, he earned All-American honors in the 100-meter freestyle as a high school senior.

South may rise: La Quinta High baseball Coach Dave Demarest, an assistant with the West team, picked the South as the favorite when play begins today at USC’s Dedeaux Field.

“The South is loaded,” Demarest said. “They have the fifth player taken in this year’s draft (pitcher Kenny Henderson of Ringgold, Ga., by the Milwaukee Brewers) and the Gregson twins (Jeff and Josh from Shawnee, Okla.) can pound the ball.”

Demarest said the South also has size and strength. Seven of the team’s 16 players are 6 feet 4 or taller. Henderson and pitcher Scott Pisciotta of Marietta, Ga., are 6-7.

The South plays the North at 1 p.m. today, and the West meets the East at 7 p.m.

Add baseball: The teams worked out Monday at Dodger Stadium while workers prepared Dedeaux Field for today’s games.

Irvine High’s Mike Seal, a pitcher and outfielder for the West, said he was thrilled to take batting practice at the major league park.

“I hit three ground-rule doubles,” he said, “and I hit one out of here, but it went foul on me.”

How the County Fared

How athletes with Orange County connections fared in finals on Day 3 of the U.S. Olympic Festival:

BOWLING

Mixed Doubles

2. Julie Gardner, Huntington Beach, and Steve Kloempken, Las Vegas (West), 4,879. 12. Steve Smith, Anaheim, and Patty Ellenburg, Chandler, Ariz. (West), 4,669.

ROLLER SKATING

Pairs

1. Tina Jerue, Corona, and Larry McGrew, Santa Ana (West).

SWIMMING

Women’s 100-Meter Freestyle

14. Ali Ladeda, Monarch Beach (South), 1:00.32.

Men’s 100-Meter Freestyle

2. Scott Wester, Huntington Beach (South), 51.44; 13. Steve West, Huntington Beach (East), 56.16; 14. Kevin Hendricks, Mission Viejo (West), 56.89.

Men’s 1,500-Meter Freestyle

5. Chad Carvin, Laguna Hills (East), 15:58.62.

Men’s 400-Meter Freestyle Relay

3. South B (Scott Wester, Huntington Beach; Michael Carlini, East Detroit, Mich.; Scott Powell, Galena, Ohio; Brian Barnes, Osceola, Ind.), 3:29.08.