Larsen Pools Her Talents for a Win : Swimming: Westlake School student’s time at Olympic Festival qualifies for U.S. Olympic Trials.

Alexis Larsen grew an inch since the beginning of summer, but her stature in women’s swimming went up even more.

Both kinds of growth came suddenly for the 5-foot-4 14-year-old from Pacific Palisades.

Last month at the Olympic Festival, Larsen’s first-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle at 8:46.54 qualified her for next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials. Her time in the event has improved more than a minute in the last nine months.

Then on Tuesday at the National Junior Olympics West meet in Mission Viejo, she won the 1,500-meter freestyle in 16:51.63, the 12th fastest time in the world this year and a 13-second drop for her from April.

Her coach since September, Bud McAllister of Calabasas- based CLASS Aquatics, is amazed by her progress.

“I’ve never had anyone make that kind of improvement” in such a short time, McAllister said. His former swimmers include Janet Evans, whom he coached at the Fullerton Aquatic Club from when she was 14 through her triple gold-medal performance in the 1988 Olympic Games.

“I knew Alexis could go fast, but I didn’t think she’d see these times for at least another year,” McAllister said. “It’s hard to tell how far she’s going to go.”

One indication will be her performance next week at the U.S. Senior National Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

In a sport populated with 7-year-old veterans of age-group championship meets, Larsen is a relative newcomer. Upon moving from Connecticut in 1987, she has swum competitively for only three years. After a short time with the YMCA of Pacific Palisades, she joined Team Santa Monica, coached by John Apgar, when she was 12.

“He worked with me, and I just kept getting better and better,” Larsen said. “And I just started from there and kept going.”

After two years, however, she grew impatient with her progress and decided that she needed a change--especially after seeing others improve after they joined McAllister’s swim club.

The move required Larsen’s mother to drive her during the school year to morning workouts at Pierce College in Woodland Hills and afternoon sessions in Calabasas. It also required an adjustment to McAllister’s more demanding regimen.

“I was just wiped out that first week,” she said.

After a few months, though, Alexis began to thrive on the heavier workload.

“After he raises the yardage, sometimes going from 8,400 yards a night gradually increased to 9,000, you’re feeling kind of tired.” she said. “It takes only a few days and then you’re back on track again.”

Darlene Bible, coach of the swimming team at Westlake School in Holmby Hills, where Larsen has been a student since the seventh grade, has observed her development for three years.

“She got excited about knowing she was pretty good, and then she really started getting serious,” Bible said. “Now she loves working out and working out hard.”

And that hard work paid off quickly.

In March, Larsen won the National Junior Olympic West short-course 500 in Milwaukee. The following month at the U.S. Spring Nationals in Federal Way, Wash., she finished 13th in the 1,500-meter freestyle at 17:07.64 and 16th in the 800 at 8:59.96.

Then in May, at the CIF-Southern Section 2-A Division meet as a Westlake High freshman, she won the 200-yard freestyle at 1:53.11 and the 500 at 4:54.36. She became her school’s first individual champion in that meet since Dara Torres in 1983. Torres went on to become a U.S. Olympian in 1984 and 1988.

McAllister says next year will give a clearer indication of how far Larsen will ultimately advance. Her strength in distance swimming is an advantage, he says, because that’s where the current U.S. program is weak, except for Janet Evans.

“The 400 and 800 freestyle are wide open as far as no one being close to Janet,” McAllister said. “But Alexis would have to make another substantial drop to move into that position to challenge for second or third at the Olympic Trials. It could happen, but it’s not probable within another sixth months.

“I just told her, ‘You want to go to the trials to get the experience, so that in 1996, if you’re still swimming fast, you’ll be a veteran and you’ll know what to do and what to expect.’ ”

In a quiet moment before a workout, Larsen thought about all that has happened in such a brief time and what she has come to enjoy about swimming.

“I like going to meets and doing well,” she said. “It always feels good when you get your best time or when you get up on that stand and they give you your medal.”

What about the inevitable setbacks and disappointments?

“Sometimes it’s hard,” Larsen said. “But usually I figure there’s no one to blame but myself. And I just have to go back to my workouts and work harder and just try and do better next time.”