Soviet Teen Tries to Make Himself at Home in U.S. : Swimming: As political situation in native country settles down, Corona del Mar sophomore can concentrate on backstroke.

Dressed in T-shirt and surf trunks, baseball cap and high-top sneakers, he looks like the typical Southern California 14-year-old, a boy who’d be right at home trading baseball cards or laughing about Bart Simpson’s latest shenanigans.

But Yan Gendlin has been in the United States less than three months, having emigrated from the Soviet Union with his parents the first week of June, and so far has learned little of baseball and even less of Bart.

Of course, assimilating into American teen-age culture is not easy, especially when you’ve got more on your mind than just having a good time. With this week’s coup attempt in the Soviet Union, Gendlin, a top junior swimmer who will be a sophomore at Corona del Mar High School this fall, experienced more highs and lows in three days than most Americans his age experience in a year.

Sitting at the Fashion Island food court Thursday afternoon, Gendlin poked at his bowl of frozen yogurt and tried to put into words how he felt about the Soviet Union’s historic events this week.

Although he understands English, Gendlin is still too shy to try to speak the language. So his American aunt, Larisa Reznik, and his 13-year-old cousin, David, served as translators.

“I was very scared, very nervous about what happened in Russia,” said Gendlin, who was born and raised in Moscow.

“Because we don’t speak much English, my parents and I had a hard time understanding what was happening. I had a hard time sleeping . . . My hope now is that Russia becomes just like the United States of America.”

He said his greatest joy, though, was seeing that the people of his homeland were not afraid to fight for their freedom.

Gendlin said he and his parents came to the U.S. for a better life, although it wasn’t until his mother visited her sister, Larisa, here two years ago that they believed a better life existed in the U.S.

“Yan’s mother was always afraid, thinking we were homeless and starving,” said Larisa Reznik, who along with her husband, Boris, immigrated to the U.S. 14 years ago. The Rezniks, both of whom were born in Siberian prison camps, now own a computer business as well as a large house in Newport Beach.

Gendlin said Soviet propaganda led his family to believe that all Americans lived on the streets, begging for food.

“We believed it all,” he said.

Finally, Larisa persuaded her sister, Galina, to visit.

“She was shocked,” Larisa said. “It was like she was on another planet. She saw how easy it is to live here, the food, the freedom. I took her to Ralph’s and she got so shaky seeing all that food that she asked me to get her for pills for her heart.”

When she returned to the Soviet Union, Yan’s mother brought her son and husband many gifts--a VCR, a portable stereo, a tape recorder, video games, etc.--which helped convince them that the U.S. was where they wanted to be.

With the Rezniks’ help--politically and financially--the Gendlins arrived in the U.S. June 1, and settled in a swank Newport Beach apartment complex that overlooks the Upper Back Bay.

Although he left his home, his childhood friends and a highly sophisticated athletic system, Gendlin says he doesn’t miss anything about his homeland anymore.

He said he was surprised that everything, including the skies, is so clean here. The variety and quantity of food is a thrill for him, especially the low prices at McDonald’s and the high quality of pizza.

“In Russia, the pizza is like pancakes with spoiled sausage on it,” he said.

In addition, he believes he’ll be more successful in swimming with his new club, the Newport Beach Breakers.

“The training is a little bit easier here,” said Gendlin, a backstroke specialist. “But in Russia, they force us to do it. Here, it’s up to you. You work hard if you want, if you don’t, you don’t.”

But Breakers Coach Mike O’Brien says when it comes to a strong work ethic, Gendlin has been an inspiration to his team. O’Brien says even though Gendlin is 14, he wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the best backstroker on the Sea King varsity next spring.

“I think he’s got an excellent shot of being a national-class swimmer,” O’Brien said. “He’s got the talent, and he works very, very hard.”

Gendlin started swimming when he was 7. He was selected as one of 30 children in Moscow to train at the elite state-run swimming school. By the time he was 10, he was training twice a day. Every summer, he would spend two months at a special camp, swimming under the observation of top Soviet coaches.

But he says though he often got tired, he never wanted to quit. And although many of his peers were forced to swim when they didn’t want to, it wasn’t that way for him.

“He was like a fish, he lived for swimming,” his aunt said. “He lived to be in the water.”

Two weeks ago, Gendlin competed at the Junior Olympics in Pasadena. He won the consolation final in the 100-meter backstroke in a career-best 1 minute 9 seconds, placing him ninth overall.

His dream, he says, is to be an Olympic swimmer--representing the U.S. But for now, he’s content with gradually lowering his times, and adapting to life in America.

When school starts next month, he’ll be taking three English classes a day. He’s able to communicate fairly well with his new swimming friends, and he’s recently picked up the high-five.

But there is another skill Gendlin says he’d soon like to master.

He wants to learn to surf.