SWIMMING JUNIOR WEST AT MISSION VIEJO : There Isn’t a Dry Eye as Brazzale Wins the 800

When Antony Brazzale’s goggles filled with water only 200 meters into the 800 freestyle Friday, he remembered the story his Coach Scott Colby told about Olympian Pablo Morales. As the anchor in a relay at the NCAA Championships, Morales swam his fastest 200 freestyle time ever despite having his goggles tangled in his mouth.

“I couldn’t see anything, but I thought of Pablo and I thought I’d get angry with myself if I let it affect my race,” Brazzale said.

It didn’t as Brazzale, 17, of Ft. Worth, took the lead at the halfway point and increased his advantage to four seconds by the 600 mark. His only concern was the time posted two heats earlier by Ben Swartout of Buena Swim Club.

“I was signaling that he had to go a little faster,” Colby said.

Brazzale got the message, touching in 8 minutes 17.44 seconds to win the National Junior Olympics West at the Mission Viejo International Swimming Complex.

His time was more than two seconds faster than Swartout’s and seven seconds ahead of Greg Billings of Bartlesville, Okla., the second-fastest swimmer in Brazzale’s heat.

Moreover, Brazzale qualified for senior nationals for the first time, as well as the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials.

It made shaving his head worth it.

“It’s a psychological advantage,” Colby said of Brazzale’s victory despite adversity. “It is tough to keep a cool head in the finals of a big meet like this.”

Lisa Arent, the women’s 800 freestyle champion, also made her first senior nationals standard, a 8:52.53.

“I would be just as happy if I made the cut and finished last,” said Arent, 15, of Omaha.

Arent’s concern with moving up to the next level is a product of two frustrating years of of swimming the same times.

“I don’t know why I finally got off this plateau,” Arent said. “Maybe because I was so sick of it. The longer I was on it, the harder I tried.”

Arent’s time was 10 seconds faster than her previous best and 1.9 seconds ahead of Julie Moore of Multnomah, Ore.

“She’s learned to race,” Omaha Suburban Aquatic Club Coach Jack Jackson said of Arent.